EOD team disposes of Civil War-era round in Wash. state

Explosive ordnance disposal soldiers assigned to 707th EOD Company, 3rd EOD Battalion, 71st EOD Group, out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord arrived in Ilwaco last week after construction workers discovered the clay-encrusted projectile, the Chinook Observer reported.

Fearing the Civil War-era round could be unstable, team members carried it by hand down a hill to a nearby quarry, then detonated it.

EOD techs had visited the area at least three times in recent years for similar clean-up duties, 707th commander Capt. Shawn McMickle said in an Army news release. The area's location and history — at the mouth of the Columbia River, home to a number of since-closed batteries — make it prime real estate for old ordnance.

The 20-pound Type 2/3 projectile was one of three designs from John Absterdam, according to a reference guide to Civil War ordnance, the first of which were delivered to Union forces in 1864.

Soldiers with 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Command, parent unit of the EOD group, responded to more than 2,000 reports of unexploded ordnance in fiscal year 2014, the Army release states.

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