Military explosive debris keeps washing up in Maryland, closing a beach, officials say

Military explosive debris keeps washing ashore in Maryland — prompting officials to close a beach area along the Assateague Island National Seashore, according to the National Park Service.

The North Beach Swimming area was once used as a testing site for rockets and bombs by the U.S. Navy in the 1940s and is now “closed until further notice” because of unexploded military ordnance, the agency said in a July 31 news release.

Seven “and counting” pieces of old explosives and rockets have washed up along the lifeguarded beach over the past two weeks, NPS said.

Beachgoers who discovered rocket fragments have brought them to nearby lifeguards and the beach’s visitor center, according to the release. However, NPS urges everyone to “not do this as it is potentially very dangerous.”

“Most of these pieces are just metal fragments, but some may still contain residue of either explosives or propellent and thus must be considered dangerous,” the park service said.

After the Navy used the beach area to test munitions, the debris was buried underneath the sand along the island during a clean up in the 1950s, according to the agency. Some of these sand pits have since moved “offshore” due to rising sea levels and natural changes on the island.

A May nor’easter is possibly to blame for the influx of explosive debris, NPS said in the release, as it is likely the storm “disturbed the nearshore seafloor and uncovered one of these pits.”

The public is advised to avoid any metal fragments found on the beach as the Ocean City bomb squad and a Dover Air Force Base Explosive Ordnance Disposal team have been responding to the pieces, according to the agency.

The beach areas north and south of the North Beach Swimming area is still open, the release said.

Assateague Island is 37 miles long and is in Maryland and Virginia. It is famous for its wild horses, which roam freely on the island’s shores.

This story was originally published July 31, 2022 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Military explosive debris keeps washing up in Maryland, closing a beach, officials say."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.