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Risk Reduction Activities and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Assessment
Nomans Land Island served as a military aerial bombardment and gunnery range from 1943 through 1996. In April 1975, 1/3 of the island on its eastern and northeastern side was designated a "No Fire Zone" managed under joint agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Navy. This area was restricted from bombardment after 1975.

In June 1998, under the provisions the land transfer component of the Base Reallocation and Closure Act (BRAC), the entire island was transferred from the U.S. Department of Defense to the Department of the Interior. The U.S. Department of Interior conveyed to USFWS the management responsibility for the island. USFWS now operates Nomans Land Island as an unstaffed National Wildlife Refuge. Signs posted on the island by USFWS make known that the refuge is "Closed to Public Access". Uses of the island and surrounding marine resources are not authorized.

Public awareness of the activities at Nomans Land Island increased following the issuance of a directive from President Clinton that addressed the Vieques Island Bomb Range in Puerto Rico. The directive referenced the UXO clearance protocol at South Weymouth Naval Air Station (Nomans Land Island) as the "Weymouth Standard", which would be applied at the Vieques site. The so-called Weymouth Standard has not been defined.

An aerial magnetometer survey was conducted for the Navy by Oak Ridge National Laboratory personnel and completed in October 2001. The objectives of this survey were to identify the distribution patterns of subsurface ordnance and ordnance debris and to correlate this information with existing environmental data to help determine the course of further environmental investigations.
Photograph illustrating how beach erosion can expose material that appears on the shoreline and can be mistaken for ordnance items.

Photograph of an exposed bomb casing found on an upland pond shoreline.


The U.S. Department of Navy has conducted UXO assessment and removal, including a Release Abatement Measure (RAM) that focused on the surface removal of ordnance items and related debris. Note the picture above and left taken after the 1998 surface clearance activities. It represents beach debris that remains on the island and could be mistaken for UXO. The item above and right represents a piece of spent ordnance that may or may not have been unexploded. This item and those pictured below were removed during the 1998 surface clearance activity.

Photograph of a bomb casing along a stone wall
Photograph of a bomb casing marked with a flag for remove from a high grass area.
Photograph of Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup staff examining several bomb casings that have been stock piled for off island disposal.
Photograph of inert bombs that have been moved to the shoreline for off island disposal.

Pictured above and below are examples of over 11,000 pieces of ordnance and ordnance debris that were removed from the surface of the island. Cleared items included: MK76, MK106, MK41 and MK15 Practice Bombs; MK7, MK 117, MK124, MK81, MK82, and MK83 Bombs; 40 MM, 3" and 6" Projectiles; and, assorted rocket warheads and rockets. The Navy has indicated that UXO removal is complete to the extent that is required for the island's use as a restricted wildlife refuge closed to public entry. The UXO removal areas did not include inaccessible or sensitive wetland areas. The shallow near shore waters, where trespass is known to occur, were visually inspected from a small boat during the 1998 UXO RAM, but these areas were not cleared of UXO or debris. Restricted near shore areas are popular locations where fishermen are known to fish or to approach the beach to retrieve lost equipment.

Photograph of bomb debris on the shoreline.
Photograph of bomb debris in a high meadow grass area.

The  Department of Environmental Protection has been working with the Navy and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the current risk from remaining UXO and spent ordnance waste, such as the items pictured below. Assessment of chemical contaminants associated with range activities is ongoing. Other types of ordnance may have been used, as several service branches used the island for target practice, although none were discovered within the area of the surface clearance. 
Photograph of a meadow grass location with an exposed bomb casing.
Photograph of a bomb casing in a brush area.

At present, posted signs that remain from the Navy's ownership indicate the presence of "Live Bombs". Other signs refer to the island's status as a USFWS Wildlife Refuge and are posted "Closed to Public Access". Aeronautical and maritime navigation charts indicate varying extents of either restricted waters or "danger zones" around the island that were prompted by the Navy's use of the island as a bombing range.

Photograph of the Department of Navy's restricted area sign that warns of target area live bombs.
Photograph of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services sign indicating that the Island is a wildlife refuge and is Closed to Public Entry.

The island remains officially closed to public entry.  However, the Navy and USFWS acknowledge first hand accounts from residents of Martha's Vineyard that  trespass has been extensive for years.

Unexploded Ordnance Links

DENIX on the Web (Defense Environmental Network Information Exchange)

DENIX UXO Safety Education Program

Explosive Safety Board   (Department of Defense)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Ordnance and Explosives Mandatory Center of Expertise (MCX) and Design Center

U.S. Army Environmental Center

Army Corps of Engineers - Huntsville

Center for Public Environmental Oversight Web Page

 

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