UXO Removal Information

UPDATE September 27, 2024:

A UXO was found during the ongoing clearing work yesterday, September 26. Military disposal specialists were on site on September 27 to safely dispose of it.

UPDATE September 9, 2024:

The North Shore News has an article with more details about the UXO removal project. It is interesting reading.

UPDATE August 30, 2024:

The following comes from a DND email. Some emphasis, clarifications, and links have been added.

To ensure continued safe community use of the site, DND’s UXO contractors will be returning to resume clearing UXO from forested areas near trails from September 3, 2024, until March 31, 2025. During this time, we will be clearing an additional six hectares of land and for safety reasons select trails will be closed on an intermittent and rotating basis while work is underway. For more details on trail closures, see the attached Fact Sheet and Figure [also shown below]. Open trails continue to be safe for the community to use for walking, jogging, or biking.

The figure provided [or see below] also delineates (in light green) the extent of UXO clearance completed since we returned to the site in 2023. Our priority remains the safety and security of the community, and we are committed to keeping you informed.

If you see something that looks like it may be UXO, please follow these steps:

• Don’t touch it.
• Turn around and leave the area the same way you came in.
• Call 911 or local police.

If you have any questions about DND’s UXO clearance work at the former Blair Rifle Range, please visit our website or email us at UXOCanada@forces.gc.ca.

UPDATE July 20, 2024:

At this time, UXO removal work in the Blair Rifle Range area should be complete for the summer. We expect DND crews to return in September to continue the effort.

UPDATE July 5, 2024:

A UXO was found on July 3 and disposed of on July 4, 2024.

In addition, we have been informed of the following:

• UXO removal work on the Blair Range has been extended until July 12, 2024. This will allow them to complete UXO reduction in all the areas that were previously prepared for that work.
  
• Since UXOs continue to be found, DND will be returning after the summer break – sometime in September 2024, exact date not yet know – to continue their efforts. At the moment that work is expected to go on until March 2025, and the results of that additional search will help determine if even more work is needed after that.
  
• Since September 2023, DND has found and safely removed
  • 2 UXO
  • over 250 Kg of munition related items (i.e. grenade parts; practice, and expended smoke and illumination mortars (2 inch and 3 inch); 6 pdr practice projectiles; practice PIATS; paraflares; small arms ammunition; munition parts and fragmentation)
  • That list doesn’t include the item found on July 3

Thanks to Debbie Nicholls at DND for this information.

UPDATE April 18, 2024:

The device found yesterday was a 3″ mortar and was safely detonated in place. This NSN article has the details.

UPDATE April 17, 2024:

The UXO found on today. It will be removed or safely detonated by the ordnance disposal team on April 18.

In addition, the UXO clearance work is being extended until June 28, 2024, with plans to return this fall. During this time, they will be clearing approximately six to eight additional hectares of land and select trails will be closed intermittently while work is underway.

This UXO fact sheet (PDF) includes more information and a map about where the work is happening.

UPDATE December 13, 2023:

The UXO found on December 12 was safely removed by the ordnance disposal team, and will be disposed of at a military base.

UPDATE December 12, 2023:

On Dec 12, DND found a potential UXO in their ongoing clearance work. As of this writing the area has been secured and access restricted until the item is properly disposed of. The notice from DND says their ordnance disposal team has been contacted and will arrive on site today to determine how to handle the object in question. Should they determine that it must be detonated in place, “access to some trails may be temporarily restricted, and you may notice a loud noise, some smoke, and minimal vibrations.”

When we learn more, we will share it here.

ORIGINAL POST November 11, 2023:

In two past UXO removal efforts, quite a few UXOs were found and removed or detonated on site. The focus in the first effort in 2018 was the existing trails. In early 2023 a particular area was examined in depth.

The latest UXO removal project will happen in stages, and could go on into 2025. During the effort, trails will be closed to keep the public and those doing the work safe.