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‘Housecleaning?’: Armed forces explode mortar shells at Keremeos landfill

‘It could just be somebody housecleaning’: RDOS CAO
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Keremeos landfill. (Submitted) Keremeos landfill. (Submitted)

The Canadian Armed Forces bomb unit will explode two unexploded mortar shells found at the Keremeos landfill.

The shells were found at the landfill on Wednesday, July 19, resulting in the closure of the facility.

READ ALSO: Canadian Armed Forces responding to unexploded ordnance at Keremeos landfill

The Keremeos Transfer Station and the stretch of El Rancho Drive in front of the entrance were both closed and the public advised to stay away.

Bill Newell, chief administrative officer for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen said a pit will be dug and the shells will be buried and then exploded.

He told the regional district board the shells are old, likely from the Vietnam War era in the 1960s and 1970s.

“The impact shouldn’t be that great,” he said about exploding the shells.

He added that it is not known how or why the shells were at the Keremeos landfill.

“They don’t know where they came from or why,” he said. “It could just be somebody housecleaning.”

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

I have worked as a newspaper journalist since 1989 and have been at the Summerland Review since 1994.
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