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Engineer: Tank Found In Pit At Middle School
POSTED: 1:37 pm EST January 5, 2008
UPDATED: 7:30 am EST January 7, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Residents near a local middle
school said they find it hard to believe that no one knew about the
World War II bombing range the school was built on.The Army Corps
of Engineers detonated 400 pounds of explosives found on the school
property on Saturday."We were able to explode and render safe 49
23-pound bombs," Mike Fulford of the Army Corps Of Engineers said.
Superintendent Ron Blocker will be at Odyssey Middle School on
Monday to assure students and parents that the school is safe.The
engineers who wrote the site survey fore the Orange County School
District in 1999 before OMS was built assured the district that no
bombs had been dropped on or fired from the property.The engineers
also did not mention what has just been learned about pits being
dug on the property with bombs left inside them."A World War II
tank is physically located in one of these pits," one engineer said
in reference to the size of the pits."The best of the experts tell
us that it is safe," Sen. Bill Nelson said.Officials said that
because the explosives are buried six feet or more underground, it
is not a danger.Residents are not buying the claims that no one
knew the history of the school property."This was 1940. It's not
like it was 50 centuries ago. It would be recorded. This is the
government and the U.S. military and there is no reason why this
shouldn't be recorded in public record," one Vista Lakes resident
said."I just want to move. I don't want to be here anymore,"
homeowner Arisleyda Bonetti said.Universal Engineering Services
painted a rosy picture of the now-school property when it was
surveyed in August of 1999: "No practice or live ordinance was
dropped or fired on or from the Vista Lakes Property during
operation of the Pine Castle Jeep Range. Former activities of the
PJR do not appear to have adversly impacted the subject
property."It is unclear if engineers were wrong or if they had no
information available to them at the time of the initial survey.The
Army Corps of Engineers expects to be working at the site for at
least a year.
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