Published: June 10, 2009 11:12 pm      

Bombs uncovered during pipeline excavation

An Oklahoma excavation crew digging a trench to lay in a natural gas pipeline were surprised Wednesday morning when they found about 20 unexploded bombs.

The pipeline work was being conducted just inside the Jasper County line off Hwy. 11 South and Clarke County Road 286. County Emergency Management Agency authorities and officials from the Clarke County Sheriff's Department were called to the scene as were bomb squads from the Mississippi Department of Homeland Security in Jackson and Camp Shelby south of Hattiesburg.

"During World War II about 60 families were displaced from 10,000 acres here to make room for a training and bombing range," said Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp Wednesday afternoon. "Apparently the work crews here have found ordinance left over from some of those training exercises."

No one has been hurt and none of the white phosphorous bombs detonated when they were uncovered with a back hoe. The bombs, according to Kemp, were used to mark targets for aircraft. The bombs would explode on contact putting out white smoke. The bombs, about 18 inches long, were badly rusted and although the fuses were still intact, Kemp said the likelihood one would have exploded was very slim.

"Nevertheless, the public needs to know if they ever come across something like this, don't handle it in any way," Kemp said. "There is really no way of knowing if the ordinance will explode or not. Let the experts handle it."

Kemp said there is a possibility the work crews could come across more unexploded ordinance as they continue their work in the days to come. The pipeline is scheduled to be completed July 15.

The very remote property has been privately owned since the end of the war and is covered mostly in pine trees.