There are unexploded WWII bombs in Ottawa’s Mer Bleue bog: documents

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Large numbers of high explosive bombs from the Second World War are still sitting in the Mer Bleue bog, according to newly declassified documents.

But military experts believe the 500-pound and 1,000-pound bombs pose a low risk as long as they remain undisturbed by the public, the records obtained by the Ottawa Citizen point out.

It has been previously known in some military circles that unexploded ordnance or UXOs were believed to be still in the bog, which during the Second World War was a Royal Canadian Air Force bombing range. The newly released records, obtained through an access to information request, provide more details than previously made public about the popular hiking and conservation area in the greenbelt.

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“During the site’s active years 500 to 1,000 pound bombs were dropped on the site using the small islands in the center of the bog as targets,” outlined a March 26, 2004 letter from Susan Home, a realty research officer for Director of Realty Assets and Plans at the Department of National Defence (DND). “It is believed that there are many unexploded bombs sunk in the mud of the bog.”

Home was responding to a query from the National Capital Commission (NCC) for the defence department to search its records for more details about the bombs.

Another DND report from 1973 concluded: “A large number of high explosive bombs were dropped on this range which failed to function. The number and location of these unexploded ordnance could not be determined.”

Added another undated military document which was recently declassified: “Because they could not be located and destroyed (the bombs) have remained where they fell ever since.”

The NCC referred questions to DND.

Defence spokesman Kened Sadiku stated in an email to the Ottawa Citizen that based upon historic aerial photographs and historic maps the military knows where the bombs were dropped.  “We do not know the exact number of UXOs which are present at Mer Bleue,” he added.

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In 1942, the federal government expropriated approximately 865 hectares of land near Carlsbad Springs for the bomb testing range, the bulk of which included the Mer Bleue bog. The bog holds peat up to six metres deep and is estimated to be more than 7,700 years old.

The range was only used until 1945 and eventually the military buildings at the site were abandoned. The records noted that in 1960 a military bomb disposal team was given the task of clearing the range of unexploded ordnance but after a study was carried out it was determined that such an undertaking would be impractical. The main difficulty was because of the boggy nature of the terrain.

The NCC purchased the site on April 28, 1965, with military officials pointing out in the records that the commission was made fully aware unexploded bombs were scattered throughout the location.

“We stated that if such an area belonged to us today we would fence it off and post warning signs about the property in an attempt to prevent people from moving across it,” Lt. Gen. David Adamson wrote in a May 16, 1973 report.

Over the years, the NCC developed the 3,500-hectare Mer Bleue conservation area into what it calls one of most outstanding natural features of the greenbelt. It is a popular destination for visitors, with interpretive boardwalks and hiking trails. It is also a habitat for many species of regionally and significantly rare plants, birds and other wildlife, according to the NCC.

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Mer Bleue is just one site in Canada where UXOs, most from the Second World War, are believed to be located. Several hundred UXO legacy sites are known to exist on land. In addition, 1,100 sites are in the ocean on Canada’s east coast, with 26 more on the west coast.

The Ottawa Citizen originally reported on the possibility of bombs at Mer Bleue on June 11, 1982. But according to the DND records the newspaper was provided with incorrect information by a military spokesman, who claimed the Canadian Armed Forces didn’t have records on the number of unexploded bombs and that there was no danger to the public.

But in a briefing note at that time, Capt. J.D. Clark pointed out that no actual records existed on the number of unexploded bombs and the danger at the site was very real. “The movement of bombs in bogs and muskeg is unpredictable and may be upwards or horizontal as well as downwards,” Clark pointed out in his report.

Starting in 2004, the NCC began investigating where the bombs might be at Mer Bleue and the request was made to DND to start combing through its records.

In 2006, DND started raising concerns that the risk of the public encountering unexploded bombs from the Second World War was increasing due to urban expansion. The reports noted there have been a small number of deaths over the years from the bombs exploding at locations across the country but the documents didn’t contain specific details. No deaths have been reported at Mer Bleue.

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But the DND records noted one incident outlined in a 1966 entry of a naturalist journal which described how a bird watcher snuck onto Mer Bleue and “experienced a near miss from a smoke bomb.”

The NCC contacted DND once again in 2006 to assess the level of risk from the UXOs at Mer Bleue. A committee of specialists would later determine the danger to be low. “This was attributed to the minimal human access to the bombing template area due to natural terrain barriers and the lack of intrusive work being conducted,” the experts pointed out.

They also warned about rapid growth in the area, noting concern regarding the north portion of Mer Bleu because of subdivisions near that location

The areas where bombs are thought to exist are those used by the NCC for research, management and monitoring of the greenbelt, the experts said. “The recreational pathways and boardwalks used by the public are not within the areas where the UXO might be found,” they determined.

But the specialists also warned that any specific work in the area by the NCC would require bomb disposal experts to be consulted in the future.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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