Navy Bomb Casing Posed No Danger
A day after a Navy bomb casing was discovered at a Simi Valley landfill, investigators said the abandoned shell posed no threat and no action is planned against the man who owned it.
The 8-foot-long shell was discovered by an employee at the Madera Road landfill Wednesday afternoon, and alarmed landfill officials contacted police.
Weapons experts at Point Mugu Navy Base examined the object and determined it was an empty MK7 casing. The casings, which were dropped on Iraq in the Gulf War and are still in use, are designed to unleash numerous small bombs to blow up enemy targets.
Point Mugu experts disassembled the casing Thursday and planned to use some of the parts in weapons tests, said base spokeswoman Doris Lance.
Police said there are no laws preventing anyone from owning a bomb casing.
Authorities did not know how the man who disposed of the shell came to own it.
“We didn’t know whether it was live or not,” Simi Valley Police Sgt. Bob Gardner said. “When it isn’t [live], it’s just a military souvenir or relic. It’s just a piece of metal.”
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