American Military News by Tyler Silvy 1/13/2020
A parking lot near the Sonoma County Airport that officials had been eying for a temporary homeless camp contains vials of mustard gas and unexploded World War II-era military ordnance buried underground, a problem that for years has been addressed by prohibiting any digging at the site.
Confronted with questions Wednesday about the underground contaminants, county officials said they are no longer considering the airport location as a stopgap site to replace the growing homeless camp along the Joe Rodota Trail in west Santa Rosa.
“I’m gravely concerned about housing people on top of such ordnance,†said Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore, whose north county district includes the airport. “Yes, we use that as a parking lot and a loading area. But that’s far different from managing a vulnerable population.â€
Although officials say the county has known about the toxic material since the early 1980s, when rusted mustard gas cannisters were first discovered by construction crews digging a sewer line, the recent revelation that the site would need to undergo a state-required environmental review caused staff to yank the proposal from consideration about 3 p.m. Wednesday.
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/01/unexploded-world-war-ii-military-ordinance-found-in-ca-homeless-camp/
