The Devens Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad successfully detonated two unexploded munitions in Devens on Aug. 19 and 23, both discovered during the redevelopment of sites at 45 Jackson Road and 111 Hospital Road.
“There have been efforts to steer development away from areas that might be an issue,” said Peter Lowitt, director and land use administrator for the Devens Enterprise Commission. “Try as we might, the Army and MassDevelopment don’t happen to know where every piece of unexploded ordnance is.”
Lowitt added that every permit granted to a project in Devens, whether it be for digging, gardening, or sewer extensions, “all have an attached condition that says anyone who puts a shovel in the ground has to get training from the Devens Fire Department on unexploded ordnances.” The 30-minute training educates people on what the ordnances look like and what to do upon an encounter with one.
A 3-inch Stokes mortar was found at 45 Jackson Road, where redevelopment is already underway. King Street Properties (KSP) is converting five buildings into Pathway Devens, a 750,000-square-foot site that will house various biotechnology companies, according to the company’s website. One building is expected to be ready for tenant improvements by the end of this year.
The other munition, an unexploded hand grenade, was found at 111 Hospital Road, where KSP is overseeing the development of a Commonwealth Fusion System (CFS) site. In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers at the new CFS manufacturing facility hope to commercialize fusion power at its 47-acre property.
The military installation and training ground at the former Fort Devens was physically and statistically tested by the U.S. Army before current construction and excavations, said Julee Jaeger, a meeting coordinator for Arcadis, in a notification to the property’s stakeholders. Jaeger represents Arcadis, a design and engineering consulting company that works closely with the Restoration Advisory Board. Despite thorough research and testing of the property, she said the possibility of finding old military munitions remains.
The back of Oak Hill is an area that Lowitt said served as a target for 37-millimeter armor piercings, the munitions used for training during World War II. While the Army has used ground-penetrating radar to survey the area for unexploded ordnance, development on that part of the hill is not permitted “because some of those munitions are buried into the hill,” he said.
Unexploded munitions have been discovered in Devens in the past, calling for the Devens Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad to secure the area. Three pieces of unexploded ordnance were found by magnet fishers in the Nashua River last summer (see “Unexploded ordnance found in Nashua River triggers Devens ban on ‘magnet fishing’” in the Sept. 3, 2020, edition of the Harvard Press.) These discoveries prompted a ban on magnet fishing, in which people tie strong magnets to ropes in hope of retrieving metal objects at the bottom of lakes or rivers.
Jaeger also reminded the public that the Army advises anyone who encounters munitions to recognize, retreat, and report them, otherwise known as “the 3Rs of Explosives Safety.” For more information on these steps, visit https://www.denix.osd.mil/uxo/home/.
