Discarded Military Mortars in Nevada County
Western Nevada County locals started to notice a police presence on McCourtney Road, including road closure. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office shared on Facebook that it had received a 911 call on January 10 at 10:30 a.m. “of an unknown device found in the scrap metal area of the transfer station, located at 14741 Wolf Mountain Rd.” The Sheriff’s office added, “Out of an abundance of caution, the transfer station has been evacuated and is closed to the public. Neighbors are not under evacuation order at this time.”
The Sheriff’s Office urged locals to avoid the area while they assessed the situation. A little over two hours later, an update was posted, describing that support was called in from Beale Air Force Base’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to investigate the device. The experts thought that the device was a live mortar and that they would detonate the mortar offsite.
A mortar ordnance is a military weapon that launches explosive shells in an arc to drop on targets from above.
Photo credit: Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, January 10, 2025
The Higgins Fire Protection District (Higgins FD) offered more details on Facebook, explaining, “This afternoon, Higgins Fire District, along with Grass Valley Fire, Penn Valley Fire, Sierra Nevada Ambulance and Nevada County Sheriff's office, responded to a report of a possible explosive ordinance at the Nevada County Transfer Station. Our crews worked together to secure the area and ensure public safety while awaiting further assistance.” Higgins FD also thanked experts from Beale Air Force Base for their quick assessment.
The final determination was that the ordinance was not live.
Photo credit: Higgins Fire Protection District
History of discarded munitions in Nevada County
It seems that cleanup of discarded munitions is an activity performed by government agencies over time. For example, in 2013, the U.S. Army presented information about the cleanup of Munitions Response Site 34 (MRS-34) at the former Fort Ord Army base in Monterey, California. “All detected Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC) on and below ground surface were removed,” the report said.
In 2016 a community meeting was held about the Former Camp Beale MRS03 Project. James Lukasko explains that the USACE Sacramento District had oversight of the project and he would be acting project manager with regulatory oversight provided by Ed Walker. The area was on Spenceville land and private property. Spenceville is located past Penn Valley, about a 30-minute drive from the McCourtney transfer station.
In the meeting minutes, Lukasko says that after informing the public and going through a feasibility study among other necessary steps, “we finally get out there and clean up the remaining munitions.” The details of a previous investigation on that land, done in 2007, reveal that they searched 64,569 acres (covering all of Former Camp Beale) and they found multiple projectiles (ranging 37-155mm), a ground rocket, mortars (ranging 60-107mm), a grenade, a landmine, and other arms.
Previous investigations of Former Camp Beale through 2015
Camp Beale opened in October 1942. In 1948, it was transferred from the Army to the Air Force. The Air Force held “bombardier and navigator training” at Beale. In 1951, the Air Force reactivated the Beale Bombing and Gunnery Range for training purposes. Former Camp Beale is located in the Spenceville Wildlife Area, a FUDS (Formerly Used Defense Site).
Could there be more?
Military agencies still search for discarded munitions on former defense sites. On January 24, 2019, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District used an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) with a magnetometer to search for munitions. The testing took place at former Camp Beale. “Currently, munitions-personnel must use a ground-based EM61 metal detector pulled by tractor or carried along by two operators; not a very practical system to search for munitions in inaccessible terrain, wetlands or biologically sensitive areas,” said geophysicist Kyle Lindsay.
January 24, 2019 search for munitions with UAS
It’s not yet clear where the mortar found at the McCourtney Transfer Station came from. Since areas of former Camp Beale are on private land, discarded mortars potentially could be found on private land and taken to the dump because it simply seems like trash.