The UXO/OE Problem

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) is present in nearly every country in the world and poses a significant threat to life and property. The significant and substantial dangers associated with UXO are detailed in the document "Unexploded Ordnance (UXO): An Overview"

The Defense Science Board reports that there may be more than 15 million land acres, at about 1500 different sites, containing some level of UXO contamination.

The UXO industry in the United States is approximately 20 years old. Like any industry, the UXO industry has its share of technical terms and concepts that are unknown or misunderstood to people outside the industry. The following definitions are presented to provide a better understanding of our company as well as the UXO industry.

Ordnance and Explosives (OE) is an all-encompassing term that refers to either of the following material:

• Ammunition, ammunition components, chemical or biological warfare material or explosives that have been abandoned, expelled from demolition pits or burning pads, lost, discarded, buried, or fired.
• Explosive soil

Explosive Soil refers to a mixture of explosives in soil, sand, clay or other solid media at concentrations such that the mixture itself is explosive.

Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) are military munitions that have been primed, fuzed, armed, or otherwise prepared for action, and have been fired, dropped, launched, projected or placed in such a manner as to constitute a hazard to operations, installations, personnel, or material and remain unexploded by malfunction, design, or any other cause. UXO is a subset of OE.

An anomaly is any item that is considered as a subsurface irregularity after completing a geophysical investigation. The irregularity is considered an anomaly because the instrument response deviates from the response generated by the surrounding subsurface matrix and cultural features (such as pipes or underground utilities) at the site. Anomalies are investigated in order to discount the possibility of UXO.

Geophysical Techniques are methods used for the detection of buried anomalies and direct investigations for the presence of munitions. The most successful systems used in current OE investigation projects rely on either magnetometry or electromagnetics.

The purpose of an OE Response Action is to reduce (in a timely, cost-effective manner) the risk to human health, safety, and the environment resulting from past Department of Defense activities. The overall response process involves a number of activities, including an OE removal action.

A Removal Action is the cleanup or removal of OE from the environment, to include the disposal of the removed material. A removal action also includes any measures employed to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare or to the environment.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) enacted into federal law in 1976, promotes the protection of health and the environment. RCRA regulates waste generation, treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal for facilities currently in operation. The OE removal process is affected by RCRA if OE is disposed of off of the project site.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was enacted by Congress in 1980 and was subsequently amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). CERCLA authorizes federal action to respond to the release or threatened release or threat of release of a pollutant or contaminant into the environment that may present an imminent or substantial danger to the public health or welfare. The CERCLA process is intended to ensure that contaminated sites are cleaned up in a timely manner, that cleanup objectives are reasonable and achievable, and the affected community participates in the selection of the removal measures that are appropriate for the site. CERCLA applies to OE responses since OE does present a danger to public health.

Intrusive activity is an activity that involves or results in the penetration of the ground surface at an area known or suspected to contain OE. Intrusive activities can be of an investigative nature or of a removal action nature.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) is the detection, identification, field evaluation, rendering safe, recovery, and final disposal of UXO or munitions. EOD procedures are performed by active duty U.S. military personnel.

UXO Personnel are civilian contractor personnel who have completed specialized military training in EOD methods and have satisfactorily performed EOD duties while serving in the military. Various grades and positions of UXO personnel exist based on skills and experience. OER is staffed with superior UXO personnel.

Demilitarization is the act of either disassembling chemical or conventional military munitions for the purpose of recycling, reclamation, or reuse of subcomponents or rending chemical or conventional military munitions innocuous or ineffectual for military use (such as removing the military offensive or defensive characteristics), which may include the disposal of unusable components of the item. The term demilitarization encompasses various approved methods such as mutilation, alteration, or destruction to prevent further use of an item for its originally intended military purpose.

OE Procedures are actions performed by UXO qualified personnel. Such actions may include:

• Locating, identifying, and assessing the condition of surface UXO or related items.
• Locating, excavating, identifying subsurface anomalies, and assessing the condition of the buried UXO.
• Recovery, transportation, temporary storage, and final disposal of UXO and related items.

OE Related Procedures are actions that can be performed by a non-UXO qualified individual; such actions include:

• Locating and marking of suspected surface OE.
• Locating and marking of subsurface anomalies.
• Transporting and storing recovered OE.
• Using earth-moving machinery to excavate overburden from suspected O