Buried under Brookridge
BROOKRIDGE –
Last week, Guy Galante and his wife left their Brookridge home about 8 a.m. and headed to the Quality Inn of Weeki Wachee, where they spent a lazy day by the swimming pool and enjoyed a nice breakfast and lunch.
While they were gone, a crew of professional engineers swept their front and backyard with metal detectors and shovels to make sure there were no long-buried mortar shells or any other leftover munitions that could pose a danger.
At about 2 p.m., Galante received a phone call and an “all-clear” to return home.
The Army gave his property a clean bill of health and footed the bill for their short hotel stay.
Galante was one of several residents who received a letter to evacuate their home while the remedial investigation of their property took place.
“I’m glad they checked,” said Galante, who moved to his quiet Dickens Street home 11 years ago. “It’s a good thing.”
Two weeks ago, contractors hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began looking for contaminated areas and leftover munitions buried underground in Brookridge and the surrounding area.
The area was once part of the old 10,200-acre Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range used by the Department of Defense for training and storage-disposal of munitions during World War II.
After the gunnery range was shut down, the areas were developed with homes, schools and businesses.
The site encompasses the area south of Centralia Road, north of State Road 50, east of Melanie Avenue and west of Citrus Way.
Crews are looking for possible buried munitions, collecting soil, sediment and water samples.
Through the years, Army Corps personnel have canvassed many parts of the area with metal detectors looking for such things as unexploded shells and grenades.
Ray Geroux, general manager of the Brookridge Community Property Owners Association, said the contractors are so discreet that someone driving down the roads in the sprawling community would be hard-pressed to know they were even there.
And it’s not like this is something new, he said.
To his knowledge, this latest sweep marks the fourth time in 15 years that Corps contractors have been there with metal detectors searching for possible buried ordnance, he said.
Geroux said he doesn’t believe Brookridge residents care overmuch about living on top of a former gunnery range and doesn’t think it will affect resales.
“There are more problems with the economy than this issue,” he said.
Nikki Nobles, public affairs specialist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, said the contamination sweeps will be ongoing until May. In about six months, her office will issue a report on what was found.
Meanwhile, Nobles is advising people who live in the area — even those whose property has been swept — to exercise caution.
“If they see something that could potentially be dangerous, retreat,” Nobles said. “Don’t touch it and call 911 immediately.”
Galante said he plans to take that advice to heart.
“They say if you dig with a shovel and hear a clink, don’t think it is a stone,” he said, “It might not be a stone.”
