The Montana Army National Guard will conduct a controlled demolition of unexploded ordnance in the North Helena Valley on Wednesday, December 14th.
According to a news release, two items that may contain explosives were recently discovered in the area.
The North Helena Valley was the site of live-fire military training in the late 1940’s and 1950’s.
Training was conducted with mortars, tanks, and artillery.
The controlled demolition is scheduled to take at place at about 10 a.m.
The area will be closed and cleared of people prior to the operation.
People in the area may hear explosions or see dust plumes.
People are asked to not call 911.
For more information on unexploded ordnance cleanup in the North Helena Valley, visit the MT ARNG UXO site, which includes this overview:
The North Helena Valley Munitions Response Site (MRS) was established through a state lease by the Montana National Guard and used for live-fire training. Munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) contamination of private and state land was discovered in the North Helena Valley in 1996 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) St. Louis District.
Since that discovery, the Montana Army National Guard (MTARNG) has initiated a comprehensive program to verify the presence of ordnance as well as its impact to areas in the Helena Valley, share information regarding MEC with the public, and clear property within the Helena Valley of surface and subsurface MEC.
