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Homeowners Concerned As Corps Surveys Bombing Range

Posted: 12:43 pm EDT August 7, 2007Updated: 12:48 pm EDT August 7, 2007

Army Corps of Engineers surveyors were at Odyssey Middle School in Orange County on Tuesday collecting soil samples. A few weeks ago, the property owner found signs of an old bombing range behind the school and that led to the discovery of live bombs.

Surveyors arrived at the scene around 9:00am, trying to find any traces of explosives. Their concern is school starts in two weeks. Meanwhile, nearby homeowners are wondering why no one seems to be concerned about them.

"It's probably 50 yards from my house to where they found the live bombs," said homeowner Ben Hichez.

Hichez and some of his neighbors are more than uneasy about bombs found so close to their homes. Some homes in the Warick Subdivision, off Lee Vista Boulevard, sit directly behind the empty land where pieces of live bombs, shrapnel and other harmful chemicals were accidentally discovered a few weeks ago.

"All the focus keeps going to the school, but what about us? As residents, we are concerned as well," Hichez said.

Tuesday morning, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveyors spent hours digging up soil samples in the land around Odyssey Middle School. They're in a hurry to find any additional traces of chemicals or explosives that could be buried beneath the land that was used as a bombing range during World War II.

Homeowners in the affected area said they've received few answers from the Corps of Engineers about how they may be affected. They've started a petition demanding to have their land surveyed as well, not just the area surrounding the school.

"Let's say I want to do some landscaping. I don't know what I'm going to be striking underneath and God forbid my children are playing in the backyard and they pick up something they're not supposed to be picking up," Hichez said.

There is a 6:30pm meeting scheduled for Thursday at the school with the Army Corps of Engineers and the homeowners are invited to come to it. The Corps said they are interested in hearing the homeowners' concerns, but said that no one right now is in immediate danger.

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