Land will need to be cleared of munitions

The problem of unexploded munitions (UXOs) on the Camp Ipperwash army lands may keep the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point from developing the land for up to 20 years, according to the Department of National Defence (DND).

If people expect to build new homes or businesses there soon they are “sadly mistaken,” according to Mike Cloud, former band negotiator and witness to UXO demolitions, speaking Sept. 20 before the community celebrated a $90-million land deal† which returns 1,000 ha of land to the band.

“We can’t just get our land back like that. There’s all kinds of live munitions all over it; the army bombed it for 60 years,” he said.

Demolition experts, including Cloud’s brother and daughter-in-law, have blown up UXOs several times, including an explosion that “shook all the buildings on the base”  when workers detonated rockets uncovered by a backhoe in the unoccupied bush area, Cloud said.

As recently as this summer, a white phosphorus grenade was detonated in a safe zone that’s been established, Cloud added.  The grenade detonation was confirmed DND.

The cleanup will be paid for by Ottawa, according to the 145-page Final Settlement Agreement.The federal government has already spent abouty $29.4 million on the UXO, environmental and cultural investigation of the Former Camp Ipperwash, according to an email from DND. Costs for the rest of the work will be determined in 2016.

Former Camp Ipperwash was a military training facility with active training ranges from 1942 to 1994, and military training on the site, included firing munitions such as grenades, rockets, mortars and pyrotechnics, as well as small arms training, DND said.

Military explosive response teams have responded to more than 100 UXO calls to the site since the 1980s.

Since site investigation work began in 2007, contractors have identified and disposed of 13 UXO items, including rocket components, grenade components, and pyrotechnics, according to a DND spokesperson.

There is still risk that more UXOs will be found, DND confirmed.

When the decommissioning begins, Kettle and Stony Point members may well be among those doing the work, as the agreement states First Nation members and Aboriginal businesses will be given special consideration for employment during the cleanup to promote social and economic benefits for the First Nation.

When the land is returned, the band will use some of the new money to build roads, homes, and infrastructure, said Kettle Point Councilor Marshall George in an earlier interview.

Photo caption: Carolyn George (left), sister of Pierre and Dudley, confronts band manager Lorraine George (right—in white with turtle on back) at gates as marchers arrive at gatehouse just after ambulance leaves with Pierre.