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http://sptimes.com/2005/11/28/news_pf/Columns/Newcomers_didn_t_know.shtml
Newcomers didn't know of this real estate boom
Men have converged around Montour and Webster streets to dig up World War II era bazooka shells, grenades and other ordnance from what used to be the Brooksville Gunnery Range.
By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published November 28, 2005
Steve Ashmore's wife called him at work recently. She heard explosions going off in the neighborhood.
Later she talked to an employee of Environmental Chemical Corp. of Colorado, who confirmed that the noise was related to their work cleaning up buried explosives.
"They were setting them off in place," Ashmore said. "There is live stuff there."
Ashmore's neighborhood, just north of State Road 50 and west of the Suncoast Parkway, is in some turmoil right now.
After years of discussion by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, men with high-tech equipment have converged on the properties around Montour and Webster streets to dig up World War II era bazooka shells, grenades and other ordnance from what used to be the Brooksville Gunnery Range.
The Army Corps of Engineers has been talking about this problem for about 10 years.
But what's amazing is that many of the people like Ashmore who bought homes and moved with their children into the neighborhood never heard about the buried explosives until after they moved in.
Neither real estate agents nor home sellers bothered to say, "by the way . . . ."
Chris Piscopo of 12316 Pitcairn St. bought his house as an investment property in May. A week after he moved in, he was walking on the street when a neighbor told him about the buried ordnance in the neighborhood.
"We had no idea," said Piscopo, an emergency room nurse and father of a 2-year-old daughter.
Neither the real estate agent nor the home seller mentioned the ordnance, Piscopo said. Ashmore, who moved into his house on Pitcairn Street 26 months ago, had the same complaint. He heard about the buried explosives from the same neighbor, Wayne Johnson, who claimed his dog found a bazooka shell soon after he moved to Pitcairn in 1993.
Ashmore says his real estate agent claimed he didn't know about the buried explosives. This was a case of buyer totally unaware.
"I've got an 8-year-old (girl)," he said. "I wouldn't have done it had I known."
This is a classic Florida story. Remember those Florida-swampland-for-sale jokes you used to hear up North? Well, I've got an old gunnery range to sell.
With the state's military history over the past 60 years, that's not as unlikely as it sounds.
The Brooksville Gunnery Range was part of 10,200 acres used by the War Department in 1943, long before Spring Hill was on the map. After World War II, the area was subdivided and heavily developed. The place where people moved for peace and quiet was once used for weapons and jungle warfare training. After the range was closed in 1946, the military conducted periodic sweeps and clearances in the area. They found bazooka rockets, mortar rounds and rifle grenades.
"Sometimes those things go off; sometimes they don't. In the '40s, no record was kept if one didn't go off," said Mike Ornella, who works in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Jacksonville office.
This area is among 1,000 properties across the state where unexploded ordnance may be buried, Ornella said. Sixty years ago, much of this state was sparsely populated, perfect for military training. Florida has the third-largest number of such former training sites, behind Alaska and California, Ornella said.
The federal government is now taking its cleanup obligations more seriously.
"We will be busy for a very long time," Ornella said.
For the Brooksville Gunnery cleanup, the Corps of Engineers will pay $1.9-million. None of the money goes to property owners worried about their property values.
Homeowners probably won't sue the government or their less-than-forthcoming real estate agents. Agents and sellers are required to disclose any information that could hurt the value of a property. It's unclear, however, whether an issue that has been in the public domain falls under that requirement.
Meanwhile, Ornella is counting on goodwill generated by the long-delayed cleanup.
"I wouldn't want to have unexploded bazooka rounds under my grass," he said. "A number of residents said, "We are glad for the cleanup. We have plans to have a swimming pool put in.' "
They'll just have to wait for a few controlled explosions before they can finally make a splash.
-- Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com
?Ǭ© Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved
Newcomers didn't know of this real estate boom
Men have converged around Montour and Webster streets to dig up World War II era bazooka shells, grenades and other ordnance from what used to be the Brooksville Gunnery Range.
By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published November 28, 2005
Steve Ashmore's wife called him at work recently. She heard explosions going off in the neighborhood.
Later she talked to an employee of Environmental Chemical Corp. of Colorado, who confirmed that the noise was related to their work cleaning up buried explosives.
"They were setting them off in place," Ashmore said. "There is live stuff there."
Ashmore's neighborhood, just north of State Road 50 and west of the Suncoast Parkway, is in some turmoil right now.
After years of discussion by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, men with high-tech equipment have converged on the properties around Montour and Webster streets to dig up World War II era bazooka shells, grenades and other ordnance from what used to be the Brooksville Gunnery Range.
The Army Corps of Engineers has been talking about this problem for about 10 years.
But what's amazing is that many of the people like Ashmore who bought homes and moved with their children into the neighborhood never heard about the buried explosives until after they moved in.
Neither real estate agents nor home sellers bothered to say, "by the way . . . ."
Chris Piscopo of 12316 Pitcairn St. bought his house as an investment property in May. A week after he moved in, he was walking on the street when a neighbor told him about the buried ordnance in the neighborhood.
"We had no idea," said Piscopo, an emergency room nurse and father of a 2-year-old daughter.
Neither the real estate agent nor the home seller mentioned the ordnance, Piscopo said. Ashmore, who moved into his house on Pitcairn Street 26 months ago, had the same complaint. He heard about the buried explosives from the same neighbor, Wayne Johnson, who claimed his dog found a bazooka shell soon after he moved to Pitcairn in 1993.
Ashmore says his real estate agent claimed he didn't know about the buried explosives. This was a case of buyer totally unaware.
"I've got an 8-year-old (girl)," he said. "I wouldn't have done it had I known."
This is a classic Florida story. Remember those Florida-swampland-for-sale jokes you used to hear up North? Well, I've got an old gunnery range to sell.
With the state's military history over the past 60 years, that's not as unlikely as it sounds.
The Brooksville Gunnery Range was part of 10,200 acres used by the War Department in 1943, long before Spring Hill was on the map. After World War II, the area was subdivided and heavily developed. The place where people moved for peace and quiet was once used for weapons and jungle warfare training. After the range was closed in 1946, the military conducted periodic sweeps and clearances in the area. They found bazooka rockets, mortar rounds and rifle grenades.
"Sometimes those things go off; sometimes they don't. In the '40s, no record was kept if one didn't go off," said Mike Ornella, who works in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Jacksonville office.
This area is among 1,000 properties across the state where unexploded ordnance may be buried, Ornella said. Sixty years ago, much of this state was sparsely populated, perfect for military training. Florida has the third-largest number of such former training sites, behind Alaska and California, Ornella said.
The federal government is now taking its cleanup obligations more seriously.
"We will be busy for a very long time," Ornella said.
For the Brooksville Gunnery cleanup, the Corps of Engineers will pay $1.9-million. None of the money goes to property owners worried about their property values.
Homeowners probably won't sue the government or their less-than-forthcoming real estate agents. Agents and sellers are required to disclose any information that could hurt the value of a property. It's unclear, however, whether an issue that has been in the public domain falls under that requirement.
Meanwhile, Ornella is counting on goodwill generated by the long-delayed cleanup.
"I wouldn't want to have unexploded bazooka rounds under my grass," he said. "A number of residents said, "We are glad for the cleanup. We have plans to have a swimming pool put in.' "
They'll just have to wait for a few controlled explosions before they can finally make a splash.
-- Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com
?Ǭ© Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved
