Unexploded ordnance

In some heavily used military training areas, munitions-related chemicals such as explosives and perchlorate (a component of pyrotechnics and rocket fuel) may enter soil and groundwater, thereby contaminating the water supply, likewise with preventing agrarian uses such as farming and food distribution.

[11] Although professional EOD personnel have expert knowledge, skills and equipment, they are not immune to misfortune because of the inherent dangers: in June 2010, construction workers in Göttingen, Germany discovered an Allied 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) bomb dating from World War II buried approximately 7 metres (23 ft) below the ground.

The bomb which killed and injured the EOD personnel was of a particularly dangerous type because it was fitted with a delayed-action chemical fuze (with an integral anti-handling device) which had not operated as designed, but had become highly unstable after over 65 years underground.

In comparison with the World War II wreck of the SS Kielce which rests at a higher depth, with a smaller load of explosives, it still exploded after a salvaging operation in 1967 and produced a tremor measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale.

[31] With the downfall of the Gaddafi regime, in March 2011 large ammunition depots were left unatetended, and easily accessible by the civilian population, as well as soldiers and paramilitary forces.

[57] In September 2012, the Colombian peace process began officially in Havana and in August 2016, the US and Norway initiated an international five-year demining program, now supported by another 24 countries and the European Union.

[66] Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge in Poquoson, Virginia, was heavily used as a bombing range by pilots from nearby Langley Air Force Base from 1917 through the 1950s.

[72] According to Alaska State Troopers, an unexploded aerial bomb, found at a home off Warner Road, was safely detonated by Fort Wainwright soldiers on September 19, 2019.

[75] Tokyo and other major cities, including Kobe, Yokohama and Fukuoka, were targeted by several massive air raids during World War II, which left behind numerous UXOs.

[79] In March 2013, an unexploded Imperial Army anti-aircraft shell measuring 40 centimetres (16 in) long was discovered at a construction site in Tokyo's Kita Ward, close to the Kaminakazato Station on the JR Keihin Tohoku Line.

The shell was detonated in place by a JGSDF UXO disposal squad in June, causing 150 scheduled rail and Shinkansen services to be halted for three hours and affecting 90,000 commuters.

[81] On 13 April 2014, the JGSDF defused an unexploded 250-kilogram (550 lb) US oil incendiary bomb discovered at a construction site in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, which required the evacuation of 740 people living nearby.

[84] On 2 October 2024, more than 80 flights were cancelled at Miyazaki Airport after a previously unknown 500-pound (230 kg) World War II bomb detonated under a taxiway, leaving a substantial crater.

The Dangrek genocide in June 1979 was in great part due to civilian victims crossing over land mines placed along the border by Thai, Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge contingents.

An estimated 30% of the munitions failed to detonate on impact and small unexploded bombs are regularly found in and around homes in Iraq, frequently maiming or killing civilians and restricting land use.

Land mines are another part of the UXO problem in Iraq as they litter large areas of farmland and many oil fields, severely affecting economic recovery and development.

[112] There are numerous mines, bombs and other explosives left from the Persian Gulf war, which makes a simple U-turn on a dirt road a life-threatening maneuver, unless performed entirely in an area covered by fresh tire tracks.

[114][115][116] In 2014, fighting from the Syrian civil war spilled over into Lebanon when members of the Al-Nusra Front militant group attacked the town of Arsal, after one of their leaders was arrested.

[126] Many efforts made by peacekeeping forces in Bosnia such as IFOR, SFOR (and its successor EUFOR ALTHEA), and in Kosovo with KFOR in order to contain these landmines have been met with some difficulty.

[127] The Federal Civil Protection Administration (FUCZ) team deactivated and destroyed four World War II bombs found at a construction site in the centre of Sarajevo in September 2019.

In the forests of Verdun French government "démineurs" working for the Département du Déminage still hunt for poisonous, volatile, and/or explosive munitions and recover about 900 tons every year.

These are known as the Kampfmittelbeseitigungsdienst (KMBD) or Kampfmittelräumdienst (KRD) ("Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service") and are commonly part of the state police or report directly to a mid-level administrative district.

[143] On 29 August 2017, a British HC 4000 bomb was discovered during construction work near the Goethe University in Frankfurt, requiring the evacuation of approximately 70,000 people within a radius of 1.5 km (0.9 mi).

[7] In Summer 2018, high temperatures caused a decrease in the water level of the Elbe River in which grenades, mines and other explosives founded in the eastern German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony were dumped.

[154] On 31 January 2019, a World War II bomb was detonated in Lingen, Lower Saxony, which caused property damage of shattering windows and the evacuation of 9,000 people.

Most current UXO risk is limited to areas in cities, mainly London, Sheffield and Portsmouth, that were heavily bombed during the Blitz, and to land used by the military to store ammunition and for training.

The Metropolitan Police of London is the only force not to rely on the Ministry of Defence, although they generally focus on contemporary terrorist devices rather than unexploded ordnance and will often call military teams in to deal with larger and historical bombs.

[204][205][206] Buried and abandoned aerial and mortar bombs, artillery shells, and other unexploded ordnance from World War II have threatened communities across the islands of the South Pacific.

This provides digital mapping of UXO contamination with the aim to better target subsequent excavations, reducing the cost of digging on every metallic contact and speeding the clearance process.

As well as this, large scale infrastructure projects such as road, rail, dam, or bridge building which require heavy machinery are prevented due to the risk of setting off UXO.