RONCO in the News

Not your average dog

By Shauna Stephenson
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Thursday, September 26, 2006

CHEYENNE - Out on the barren prairie north of the main drag of F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Dessel goes to work.

The black Belgian malinois' handler, Paul Brown, walks her through a series of orange flags. He points with a trekking pole as she walks, nose to ground, looking for a scent.

Dessel and Brown are part of a test being conducted at F.E. Warren AFB on whether highly trained dogs can pick up the scent of unexploded ordinance that dots the base's entire North Range. This is the first test of its kind in the United States.

Shauna Stephenson/WTE

Paul Brown, director of canine operations for RONCO Consulting Corporation, works with Dessel, a Belgian malinois, on detecting trace amounts of explosive material on the North Range on Monday at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. The base is in the process of cleaning up unexploded ordnance left over from before World War II, and the dogs were being tested as an option for differentiating between explosive material and things such as scrap metal.

The trick to be able to differentiate between all other scents and those of explosives that may sit two to four feet in the ground.

Much of the ordinance was left from the base's time as an Army outpost and training center for World War II. The ranges were mixed use, some times for firing, others for hand grenade training.

Sharon Hrabovsky, project manager for the base, said there are about 3,000 acres that need to be combed, step by step. Anything from shrapnel to 37mm or 75mm rounds, unexploded ordnance or projectiles still can be found there.

Officials are trying to get an idea of the scope of the project, which began about two years ago. They say they still aren't sure of all the types of ordinance lodged in the ground, some of it for more than 100 years.

Joe Goehring, project manager for URS, the company contracted in the clean-up, said the ranges need to be cleared because of the danger they pose.

"They're lethal," he said. "Every one we find is one less chance of someone getting hurt."

While the ranges now are heavily restricted, officials hope to someday re-open the area for development.

But getting rid of the ordinance can be tedious.

First, a geophysical map must be made, marking every location where an anomaly in the soil is detected. There can be hundreds of marks in one acre.

Scattered among the ordinance are nails, scrap metal or even horseshoes from the days F.E. Warren was a cavalry base. Additionally, some of the rock within the soil is magnetic, creating more marks to investigate.

Next, each mark must be dug. A team of up to seven explosive ordinance disposal certified members dig each site. About 40 digs can be done in one day, but that varies with conditions.

But for every 100 digs, about one will turn up as unexploded ordinance, also know as UXO. The other 99 usually pose no threat.

This wouldn't be a problem, except there are 15 million acres nationwide where unexploded ordinance clean-up needs to be done.

"And that's just going to continue to grow," Goehring said.

That's where the dogs come in.

John Krowitz, operations manager for environmental remediation services at RONCO Consulting Corporation, said their dogs are able to detect trace amounts of explosive material as small as 250 picograms. A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.

"We're looking explicitly for the chemical compounds in the explosive," he said.

RONCO also uses dogs to detect landmines overseas in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

But there is a big difference between finding landmines and locating unexploded ordinance. Most landmines are found in the first six inches of soil. Most unexploded ordinance is about two feet deep or more.

Brown said landmine dogs are taught to identify rubber, plastic or solvents. Unexploded ordinance dogs are taught to only identify the chemicals used in explosives and to ignore any other material.

"The ability of the dogs is absolutely mind-boggling," he said.

He said if this works, it can increase the productivity of the disposal teams. If the dogs can rule out any marks, it means less time spent digging, translating to money saved.

The longer the unexploded ordinance has been in the ground, the more likely the scent has come to the surface.

Weather also plays a factor. Wind will throw the dogs off: Usually 10 miles per hour or more will bring the search to a halt.

"This may not work; we're hopeful that it will," Krowitz said.

So far the testing has gone well, he added. In one acre, the dogs had positive responses to 14 locations out of 202. No munitions or explosives were found in those the dogs identified.

The teams are in the process of digging the other 188. To date, nothing has been found.

Monday, bulk TNT was identified by one of the dogs to the side of one of the testing grids. Krowitz said the dogs identified the location for a reason.

"When a positive (response) is made, we don't discount it," he said.

Krowitz said there may be residual left over in those sites. Samples are being tested to see if that's what the dogs picked up.

He said they will continue the testing.

"We've got to have a starting point," he said.