CARMEL – A bombshell discovery was made in Philipstown on Monday when a contractor found what he believed to be an unexploded mortar shell while doing excavation work on a property, according to Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville. The sheriff’s office was notified on Monday just before 11 a.m. and a deputy was dispatched to the site on Juniper Hill Road.
The contractor found the shell under some rocks.
When the deputy arrived, he cleared the area of all workers and called for the Westchester County Police Hazardous Devices Unit*, commonly referred to as the bomb squad, to assist in the removal of the shell.
Bomb squad personnel determined that the mortar was an inert military-grade mortar round from the 1950s and appeared to have been at the Juniper Hill Road location for several years. After safely removing the device, the unit searched the area for additional shells and did not locate any.
* The Westchester County Hazardous Devices Unit is one of only 13 bomb squads in the State of New York and is accredited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Comprised of highly skilled and exceptionally trained technicians, the members of this unit respond to calls for service that include: possible improvised explosive devices, bomb threats, military ordinance, volatile chemicals, deteriorated explosives, and dangerous fireworks.
