The Army Corps of Engineers is working to remove the toxins from Fort Learnard, a former World War II military outpost located in Unalaska Bay.
The fort housed anti-aircraft as well as anti-ship artillery on Eider Point, on the western shore of the bay.
The site was shut down after the war and the artillery and munitions were destroyed in order to eliminate the debris. According to the army, the destruction wasn’t conducted in a controlled manner.
“Fragments or even whole pieces of ammunition were thrown out of the blast,” said Ellen McDermott who works in an engineering firm that is that is contracted to clean up the area. In a public forum held on April 19, she revealed that more than 200 munitions had been discovered in the area in the vicinity of Fort Learnard, most recently in the year 2016.
“The amount of items that are discovered on the site suggests that there’s plenty of projectiles left but we aren’t sure the location of them,” McDermott said.
The corps will be visiting the site in May for a preliminary inspection and cleanup, while the actual event is scheduled for 2024.
