If you believe you have found a piece of unexploded ordnance, don't touch it. Call the Nevada County Sheriff's Office at 265-1471.
The US Army Corps of Engineers has implemented the Camp Beale Ordnance & Explosive Cleanup Project in the area shown in the above map. Information on the project, including how citizens can be involved, is available on the project Website at
www.campbeale.org.
Background (From the project Website): In 1940, the Camp Beale area consisted of grassland and rolling hills and the abandoned mining town of Spenceville. Then Marysville City officials encouraged the Department of War to establish a military facility in the area. The U.S. government purchased 87,000 acres in 1942 for a training post for the 13th Armored Division, the only unit of its kind to be entirely trained in California. Camp Beale also held training facilities for the 81st and 96th Infantry Division, a 1,000-bed hospital, and a prisoner of war camp.
Dredge materials from the area's abandoned gold mines were used to build streets at the Camp.
Update (exerpted from the April 2004 Camp Beale Update newsletter, available at the link below: The Volume Three EE/CA field investigation effort is scheduled to commence in late July and extend through December. Only a small portion of the Volume Three area will need to be surveyed at this time to develop an estimate for the cleanup. The sampling will need to be well distributed in order to get the most complete picture. As a result of our need to sample, the Corps will be requesting your cooperation by allowing us to enter your property through your written permission (i.e., Right of Entry).
For full information on the Camp Beale Ordinance and Explosive Cleanup Project, please visit the Corps of Engineers site at
www.campbeale.org.
