McClellan News :: Officials warn against ignoring fences at McClellan

Officials warn against ignoring fences at McClellan

by Megan Nichols
Anniston Star Staff Writer
03-06-2008

McClellan officials are finding that some people are not deterred by 6-foot fences and signs that say "trespassing for any purpose is strictly forbidden."

While they want visitors to see new developments at the former fort, officials said some areas are off-limits for safety reasons.

Bullets, bombs, mortars, landfills and chemical runoff still need to be removed from between 10,000 and 11,000 acres of McClellan property before it is safe for the public, said Joint Powers Authority planner Miki Schneider.

The ordnance is left over from the area's decades as the active Fort McClellan. It has to be cleaned up before the JPA at McClellan can develop the land. Only about 1,000 acres are available for development now.

Schneider was surprised recently when she found a couple and their dog out for a stroll on restricted property.

Signage around McClellan's closed areas.
Photo: Laura Bundy

"I asked them what they were doing, and they just said they were out for a walk," she said. "I said, 'Did you not see the fence?' and they said 'Yeah, we climbed over it.'"

Schneider put the dog and the couple in her truck and drove them out of the area. When they got to the gate on Iron Mountain Road, she said their Volkswagen minibus was backed up to it. The couple had concealed a ladder in the woods and used it to get over the fence.

"The danger out here is real," Schneider said. "When you see a fence with wire on top of it you need not climb over it."

It is easy to see why people might want to hike through the area. On Wednesday afternoon a bright blue sky showed through the tops of tall pine trees, and Cane Creek tributaries flowed quickly, thanks to recent rains. But reminders that this is a former Army fort were all over the ground in the form of small blue, pink, purple and yellow flags that mark possible unexploded ordnance.

Anniston Mayor and JPA Vice Chairman Chip Howell said people needed to be aware of the danger.

"It is fenced for a reason," he said. "It is contaminated with unexploded munitions of concern. That's why we're removing it."

Schneider said slightly more than 250 acres had been cleared so far by three firms contracted with Matrix Environmental Services, which manages the cleanup. She said the entire process could take more than five years, depending on weather and other factors.

Howell said he hoped people would stay out of the area from now on.

"No one has a good reason for being there other than being curious," he said.

"Curiosity killed the cat."