EOD, CG Clean up Outer Banks Island

[SGRock]

MCAS Cherry Point, N.C. - Much like the “Pedro” Marines from Marine Transport Squadron 1, Station Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines play a versatile role in the region. In addition to neutralizing volatile materials for the Marine Corps, they help civilian agencies keep the area safe from many different dangerous materials.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Ralph F. Kugel, the executive officer of the Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle, N.C., said Station EOD responds very quickly, usually within the hour they’re called. Typically, fisherman or citizens who live along the coast contact the police or fire department, who in turn notify EOD, he said.

Gunnery Sgt. J. W. Canaday, the staff non-commissioned officer-in- charge of Station EOD, said his department’s efforts have recently focused on Wood Island, a piece of land off the Atlantic Coast. Last month, EOD got a call from the Coast Guard saying a local fisherman found a suspicious looking object that turned out to be an MK-43 test rocket from World War II.
The EOD Marines routinely respond to cases from places like Wood Island and the Outer Banks because the area was used as a training ground for artillery and bombing during World War II, said Canaday. Sailors from Naval Station Norfolk, Va., “would head south, drop their bombs in the Outer Banks, because nobody used to live there, and head back up north for gas.”

The area has probably never been cleared to residential standards, said Canaday. When the military stopped using it for training, it was “cleared down to the standard that was established at that time, which was probably four feet.” At the time, four feet was sufficient clearance because no one lived there, but now that Wood Island is populated, extra precautions must be taken, he said.

At Wood Island the danger is normally restricted to recreational mishaps. However, many residential areas in the Outer Banks are also affected by ordnance from military training that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, said Canaday. The homes there are expensive, and rather than abandoning them or paying for a civilian agency to clean up the area, they continue to let Station EOD do the job, said Canaday.

“There’s no end to this,” he said, “and because these people want to live there, Marines are doing the job of civilian EOD agencies.”