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Parents Unsatisfied With Answers About Bombing Range

Friday, August 10, 2007 – updated: 7:26 am EDT August 10, 2007

The Army Corps of Engineers will hold a meeting Friday morning to demonstrate ongoing work at Odyssey Middle School. Thursday night, hundreds of parents walked out of a meeting where they said their concerns over old explosives at the school were never answered.

"As a parent, I cannot take that chance with my son," said Cindy Aquinl, a concerned parent.

Aquinl doesn't know how she'll manage to send her son off to school, which opens in 10 days. She moved to Central Florida from New Jersey after September 11, but after Thursday night's meeting with the Army Corps, she's still not convinced his new school is any safer.

"This is what he saw from his school window. I will not expose him to that again," she added.

It was standing room only as the public gathered to ask questions about the site of a former World War II bombing range where Odyssey Middle School was built. Friday morning, the Army Corps will begin its search of the campus, looking for any remaining explosives with a high-tech metal detector.

The Army Corps had claimed the remnants were buried deep below the ground, but concerns were raised recently when a man discovered several old bombs on his property, just 1,500 feet from the school.

Some parents said the Army Corps still hasn't explained how that could have happened.

"If they weren't sugarcoating things they'd be more forthcoming and they'd tell us exactly what's on the property," said another concerned parent.

Next Friday, construction will begin on a fence around the school to separate it from where the bombs were found. Tests have been taken from the soil, but the results won't be ready until mid-Fall.

The Army Corps has designated $1.1 million to expedite the project. A meeting is scheduled for 9:00am Friday where the Army Corps will be demonstrating how they'll be conducting their search for the old bombs.

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