Army rounds round-up rocks Waiouru

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 663, 19 November 1996, Page 5

Army rounds round-up rocks Waiouru

Waiouruites saon get u»ed to big bangs, but last w&ak shockwaves from four ammunition explosions triggered phone eails to the Army from a number of people c oncerned that the mountain was going up. Royal New ZeaSand Army Ordnance Corps ammunition technlcians blasted once a day for fourways last week dlsposing ofobsol&te 106mltllmetre HEATand HESH rounds. With a not explosive quantity of 2819.9 kllograms per explosion the blasts and shockwaves were felt 14 kllometres away from the desert explosion stte. The klasts wero rougbiy egulvalent to three Alrforce 10QG-pound bombs going off 'm the same place at the same timo and teft a crater about 19 metres wide and six metres deep. Pictured, Waiouru Ammunition Technleal Offlcer and Range Conducting Officer Lleutenant Shelley Murphy stands with the remains of a 106mm round. of a cartridge case. In the hackground are some of the boxes that the rounds came In , and these boxes will he used to mahe simulated ammunition loads for 10th Transport Squadron In Linton . The last Mast on Thursday also contained some explosive ordnance disposal items recov - ered from oivilian call-outs througteout the eentral North Island. Lt Murphy said this ammunition was made up of mostly stray rounds found on farmers' propetties and in forests.