LITTLE ROCK—More World War II munitions are to be destroyed on 9,000 acres of private property in Faulkner County that was once part of Camp Robinson, where troops were trained on rifles, machine guns, live grenades and other artillery.

The survey-and-disposal work has been going on in phases for the last several years as part of a federal program that began in the 1980s to clean up properties once used by the military and converted to private use.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined while completing a sweep on 70 acres two years ago that some munitions still remain hidden and that their work would have to be expanded, said Max Frauenthal, who is overseeing the project at the Army Engineers’ Little Rock District office.

“We realized that we’re really just scratching the surface,” he said. “We found a lot of munitions in that 70 acres.”

The Army Engineers has contracted with Parsons Engineering Science Inc. to conduct the work, most likely beginning in February or March. About 200-300 property owners live in the survey area—north of Arkansas 89 and west of the Camp Robinson Wildlife Management Area.

As has been the practice in previous sweeps, residents will be put up in motels in Conway or Little Rock, if necessary to ensure their safety, Frauenthal said. Over the course of the surveys, there have been no accidents and no one has been injured because of an explosion, he said.

“These are professionals in the field,” he said. “I don’t know of anyone getting hurt.”

Army Engineers staff planned to meet Wednesday at Mayflower with homeowners to discuss the plans. The agency is stressing that anyone who spots a suspicious object on the 9,000 acres, should move away from it and report it to the local authorities.

Parsons Engineering will investigate a total of 50 acres broken up over the total expanse in 3-feet-wide sections that extend for 127 miles. Besides munitions, the company also will look for contamination from chemicals once used in the explosives. Frauenthal said he didn’t know of any present danger from chemicals that might remain on the property.

“I highly doubt that the chemicals there will be significant,” he added.

In 2002, Parsons Engineering conducted a survey of more than 15,000 acres in Faulkner and Pulaski counties that were formerly part of Camp Robinson. Workers dug up anything that set off high-powered metal detectors and followed specific regulations on dealing with any live ammunition. The company also made projections about what was in the ground in areas that workers didn’t actually survey.