I head out of Omaha tomorrow morning enroute to Sidney, Nebraska. Sidney is the home of Cabelas Outfitters. It is an outdoorsman's paradise. More goodies and gadgets than you can ever use.
It is also the home of the Former Sioux Army Depot. During WWII a lot of ammunition was processed there, refurbished, or destroyed. They use processes called "open burn or open detonation" (OB/OD) to get rid of unserviceable ammo. All too often, too little "donor" explosives were used which resulted in munitions being "kicked out" rather than exploding.
The location they used at Sioux Army Depot is now used for farming or grazing. The only problem is that there are still a lot of unexploded ordnance there. Remember hearing about the UXO problem in Baghdad? It isn't quite that bad but still bad enough.
I work for the US Army Corp of Engineers and provide safety oversight to contractors cleaning up old bomb ranges, OB/OD areas, artillery ranges, and other training areas. I will be spending about a month in Sidney ensuring that our contractor does what he is supposed to do the way he is supposed to do it. I'll be staying in the RV campground at Cabelas. My wife told me to stay out of the store (chuckle, chuckle). I'll be back home around 21 May.
See you down the road.
Brad & Carol Lasater
2003 2955RL
2002 F250 2WD Lariat, 7.3L PSD, 6-spd manual, Crew Cab, Short Bed, Pullrite 20K SuperSlider, Prodigy Controller
Omaha, NE
http://b.lasater.home.att.net/