A three-inch mortar found at the Blair Rifle Range last month. photo supplied, Department of Defence
Explosives experts have found and detonated another mortar shell on the former Blair Rifle Range lands.
Department of National Defence contractors have been searching the former military site on Mount Seymour Parkway for explosives as the property transitions to provincial jurisdiction for trail use. Contractors found one three-inch mortar shell there in February, prompting a larger search now underway. The area was used as a military training site from the 1930s to 1960s.
According to an email sent out to the community Friday afternoon, the unexploded explosive ordnance (UXO) team found another one.
“On April 12, 2018, DND found a three-inch mortar during its ongoing UXO survey work at the former Blair Rifle Range. As part of regular UXO safety procedures, the area has been secured and access temporarily restricted until the item is safely disposed of. DND’s military ordnance disposal team is on site to safely dispose of the item and ensure public safety. They have decided that a controlled on-site detonation is the safest way to dispose of the item, so you may notice a loud noise, some smoke, and minimal vibrations,” the email read.
Cooper Quinn, vice-president of the North Shore Mountain Bike Association was just in the process of letting the mountain bike community know when he heard the detonation.
“I just made a Facebook post about it six minutes ago and then I just heard this gigantic boom,” said Cooper, who was working from home on Plymouth Drive, just south of the Blair Rifle Range lands. “It was just like a giant clap of thunder, basically.”
NSMBA has been tasked with trail maintenance under an agreement to allow recreational use of the lands, which are co-owned by the province and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
“We’re glad for everyone that they’re cleaning all that stuff up. It’s a legacy site. It’s making our community safer so that’s a good thing,” Quinn said.
Explosives contractors are expected to be scouring the approximately 30 kilometres of trails on the lands with metal detectors until May 18.
Blair range historian Donna Sacuta said she was glad to see the potentially deadly bombs disposed of but cautioned there may be others left off the beaten path.
“I’m a little concerned, unless they expand. They’re only going to do the trails and half a metre on each side. I’m not convinced that’s enough,” she said.
No one from the Department of National Defence was available for an interview on Friday.
The trails remain open for use while the explosives search continues. National Defence advises anyone who finds something that looks like it may be an explosive not to touch, leave the area immediately the way they came in and call 911.
