The Department of Public Safety’s new spokesman, Police Officer Eric David, told the Variety that about 90 percent of the ordnances were recovered from the ongoing homestead project in Marpi.
He said the department has slated a detonation operation for April 24.
“After the April 24th schedule, there will be two more detonation operations which will be set in the next months because there is so much ordnance recovered and the explosive ordnance division on Guam allows us to detonate only about 500 lbs. on each operation,” David said.
He said approximately 1,500 pieces of ordnances of various kinds and sizes were turned over to the DPS Explosive Response Team yesterday for safekeeping in a storage bunker until these will be detonated.
He added that the recovered ordnances were just from the first phase being cleared for the Marpi Homestead project.
“There could be more ordnance waiting to be unearthed, which means more detonation operations,” David added.
In October last year, members of the bomb disposal team blasted 250 pieces of unexploded ordnance in Marpi.
John Scott, DPS explosive response team trainer and adviser, earlier said the average detonation frequency is about three to five times a year, but an increased frequency in detonation operations could be expected in the coming years as ongoing projects unearth more unexploded World War 11 ordnance on island.
He said in the past years, over a thousand bombs have been unearthed on island, as well as several thousands of U.S. and Japanese bombs, projectiles, hand grenades, mortar rounds, and other ordnance items.
