Airman 1st Class Dylan Graham of the 87th Civil Engineer Squadron, who specializes in explosive ordnance disposal, provides eye-level guidance as a 500-pound World War II projectile is lowered into a government vehicle before transport from Middlesex County College in Edison. U.S. AIR FORCE AIRMAN TARA WILLIAMSON EDISON — Military officials used ground-penetrating radar at Middlesex County College last week to scour the site where the shell of a bomb was discovered, according to college officials.
“They will be analyzing the results next week, and we should have a report by the end of next week,” said Tom Peterson, a spokesman for the college. “Also, please keep in mind that this wasn’t really a bomb; it was the shell of a bomb. There was no explosive material inside, and it did not have a fuse.”
As workers were excavating the site for the new West Hall Building on the college campus at the corner of Parkside Drive and Campus Drive East on April 21, they uncovered a 500-pound ordnance dating back to World War II.
The campus sits on 163 acres of the former Raritan Arsenal, which shut down in 1963. The recent find wasn’t the first of its kind at the college.
“I’ve been here 13 years, and in that time, we found dummy ordnance — in other words, hollowed out and just used for practice — sometime around 2004, and then again in 2012,” Peterson said.
Upon discovering the most recent find — an AN-M43 general-purpose bomb — workers alerted campus police, who called the 87th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
Members of the EOD arrived on the scene around 3:30 p.m. and determined that the ordnance — which was about 38 inches long and 12 inches in circumference — required immediate detonation, base representatives said.
“We quickly contacted Joint Base officials who directed us to the proper channels to help address this situation,” said Capt. Michael Amboziak, acting police chief at Middlesex County College.
After examining the bomb, which included X-raying it, military officials determined that it did not have a fuse and therefore was safe for transport, according to Lauren Pitts, a spokeswoman for the military base.
Members of the EOD drove the ordnance to McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Airmen later attached C-4 explosives to the device and detonated it around 11 p.m.
According to college officials, workers at the site were trained in proper procedure, which consists of the three Rs: recognize, retreat and report.
Campus police closed off the roads around the find, creating a 500-foot perimeter until the EOD arrived. Although vehicular and pedestrian traffic was stopped around the site for 12 minutes, no evacuation was necessary, college officials said.
“We take pride in being prepared for any scenario on and off base,” said Master Sgt. Mario Kovach, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron flight superintendent.
Work on the campus building will continue once Army Corps of Engineers officials deem it safe.