There are seven areas across the City of Ottawa that are being assessed for unexploded explosive ordnances (UXO), or military explosives that didn’t explode as intended, according to the Department of National Defence (DND).
The sites include the Ottawa International Airport, a location in Hintonburg, one in Little Italy, Strathcona Park, the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum in Carp, one near the RCMP Technical Operations in the east end and Mer Bleue Bog, as first reported by the Ottawa Citizen.
Cheryl Forrest, a spokesperson from DND, told CityNews that many sites remain in assessment for some time usually because they are not considered “priority.”
“The great majority of UXO legacy sites do not end up presenting an elevated UXO risk, but out of an abundance of caution, all sites will eventually be formally assessed for UXO risk,” she said.
Here are the UXO sites in assessment across Ottawa
They are from the Second World War when Canada was producing explosives, training soldiers and assisting the Allied Forces in defeating the Nazis.
“These items remain potentially dangerous as their payloads (often explosive) failed to function—they remain dangerous to this day,” Forrest explained. “Examples of UXO legacy sites include former bombing ranges, former rifle ranges, former coastal defence batteries, etc.”
These sites have sat dormant with almost no risk to the public, but as the population grows and more land is being developed, it has resulted in stories of the past coming to light.
In 2006, DND went through an “exhaustive” historical record review aimed at listing all UXO legacy sites, which are areas no longer owned by the department but where former military activity happened. Across the country there are 834 sites, just under two-thirds are in assessment and 108 are classified as complete.
Checking historical records is the first step in assessing the site, which involves combing through national archives, department files, war diaries and local newspapers to pin down where Canadian military and Allied Forces trained and what type of munitions were used.
Sites that could pose a high risk to the public are scheduled for visits to confirm the conditions and add information. These are carried out by qualified consultants and UXO subject matter experts.
None of the sites in Ottawa are classified as “high-priority” which means risk to the public is low, Forrest said.
Mer Bleue is the only site in the city that was used as a bombing range, to help train pilots for action. Bombs as large as 1,000 pounds were used and not all of them exploded. Due to the terrain of bog and water, teams in the ’60s did not successfully clean up the area before it was turned into parkland by the National Capital Commission.
The other sites in Ottawa would have had small arms ammunition used, which includes “projectile ammunitionof less than 20 mm in calibre.”
“Small Arms ammunition would have been used at the former Strathcona Park Rifle Range and perhaps at the Land Engineering and Test Establishment,” Kened Sadiku, another DND spokesperson said. “No munitions are believed to have been used at the Central Ordnance Depot (which would have held a wide range of material goods required by the Army, from clothing to weapons), or the Anti-Submarine Warfare Storage Facility.”
It is expected that these sites will eventually be closed, Forrest said, but it is possible that if new information comes to light it could be reopened.
