Former National Fireworks Site Clean-Up Update and Notification 6/22/22

During the ongoing munitions clean-up at the Former National Fireworks Site, a dive team recovered an 18-pound piece of solid rocket propellant from Factory Pond. This Friday, June 24, 2022, between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm, the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad, Hanover Police and Fire Departments, and Unexploded Ordinance (UXO) experts from Tetra Tech will be implementing a plan they have developed to effectively burn and destroy the item in a manner that complies with all public safety requirements. 

This includes establishing a safety exclusion zone around the burn location, using engineering controls to contain and shield the burn, tracking wind direction in real-time and continuously monitoring ambient air downwind of the burn location. No residential property in Hanover or Hanson is within the exclusion zone. There should be no impact on the public. Neighbors immediately adjacent to the site may see smoke above the tree line, and/or hear a short-duration roar. 

Although it is highly unlikely, it is possible that the propellant may partially detonate instead of burn, given its wet and damaged condition. If that occurs, there will be no fragmentation or blast hazard; however, there may be a louder noise. The safety precautions in the plan explicitly account for this unlikely possibility. The destruction of the propellant may last for a few minutes or up to one hour. 

This activity will be rescheduled if weather conditions are not conducive to allowing the procedure to be performed safely. 

For additional information and notification updates, please visit hanover-ma.gov/fireworkssite.