644.523—Restricting future of artillery and other ranges.
Experience indicates that, on ranges where high explosive projectiles have been fired or dropped, such as artillery, bombs, mortars, rockets, grenades, and the like, it is impossible to make certain that land in impact areas is absolutely safe for unrestricted use. Such impact areas receive a high concentration of fire, and the properties of these projectiles are such that many duds are deeply buried. Depth of burial, as well as the concentration of fragments or components, will affect the dependability of mine detectors. Since there is no known definite period within which such projectiles will become inert through weathering and corrosion, such contaminated areas can be safely released for restricted use only, even after decontamination work has been carried to its practicable limit. Such restrictions will usually be in the form of a recommendation that the land be restricted to surface use only. Restrictions will be based solely on the type and/or extent of contamination. If land is contaminated to such a degree that it is considered it cannot be rendered safe for any use, disposal action will be suspended and the facts will be reported to DAEN-REM-C with the DE recommendations.