Researchers to Look for Clues in Soil to Find Old Ordnance

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FAIRMONT – Researchers believe environmental clues will reveal the location of unexploded ordnance left in the Monongahela National Forest by the Army, which used the forest as a training ground during World War II.

A research team from West Virginia University and the West Virginia Water Research Institute plans to examine soil, water and plant samples for compounds that may have leached into the soil from the ordnance, said Suzanne Bell, director of WVU’s Forensic and Investigative Science Program and assistant professor of chemistry.

“We want to learn everything we can about the soil,” Bell said.

Bell said the project will focus on the Dolly Sods Wilderness area in Randolph and Grant counties.

Unexploded ordnance has been found in the rugged wilderness area in the past. Bell said the research team wants to determine how much ordnance is still there and where it is.

The goal is to develop an environmental forensic approach that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection can use to find unexploded ordnance in other places, Bell said.

The National Environmental Education and Training Center awarded a contract of more than $368,000 for the project.

Bell said WVU students will help the team collect samples this summer.

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