FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Lebanon County — Members of the U.S. Army and the Pennsylvania National Guard teamed up with civilian authorities to demolish hundreds of Civil War-era cannonballs that were discovered earlier this year during a construction project in Pittsburgh at Fort Indiantown Gap.
The cannonballs were found on the site of the former Allegheny Arsenal in Pittsburgh, according to a post on the U.S. Army website. The arsenal supplied Union troops, and was the site of a deadly explosion that killed 78 people in 1862.
Members of the 192nd Ordnance out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina and the 55th Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) of the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Command out of the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland led the operation. Both units are comprised of explosive ordnance disposal specialists.
Soldiers helped the Pittsburgh Police Department’s bomb squad transport the cannonballs to Fort Indiantown Gap, where they were disposed of.
“While we are often called up to dispose of unexploded ordnance, this operation was slightly unusual due to the age and volume of the munitions,” Capt. Dan Dellorusso, Commander of the 55th Ordnance Company (EOD) said in the post. “We’re always happy to help members of the community.”
More than 700 pieces of ordnance were disposed of.
