Fossella & Colton Announce Dept of Defense to Provide Data on Live Explosives in Gravesend Bay

DoD Assembling Team of Experts to Answer Questions Posed by the Lawmakers

[Washington, DC] – Congressman Vito Fossella and Assemblyman Bill Colton today announced that, at their request, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has agreed to provide an accounting of the release of explosives in Gravesend Bay more than 50 years ago. 

The DoD also agreed to provide information on naval ordnance activities in the Bay that may have potentially released munitions. The information is being assembled by a team of DoD experts and should be finalized within the next several weeks.

The DoD agreed to provide the data in response to a letter sent by Fossella and Colton last month asking for detailed information regarding the sinking of a barge unloading live ammunition from the aircraft carrier USS Bennington in 1954. The lawmakers questioned whether plans by the City of New York to dredge the Bay could disturb any explosives that might still be in the water.

Fossella said, “This is a positive step forward in our efforts to learn whether live explosives could still be lying on the Bay’s floor. This data should offer greater insight for the community. I appreciate the DoD’s assistance on this matter and hope the information answers the important questions we have raised. Although the federal government said it recovered the explosives soon after they were lost, our goal is to get the information we need to ease the concern of Gravesend residents.”

BJ Penn, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, wrote in a letter to the lawmakers, “Your letter asked a number of questions, which will require a great deal of research into archive records to provide a complete and accurate response. My office has already assembled a team including our Naval historian, explosive ordnance experts, and the Army Corps of Engineers dredging experts, who are actively collecting this data.”

Fossella and Colton said they will continue pushing the DoD to conduct a thorough and comprehensive on-site inspection of Gravesend Bay to determine if live anti-aircraft shells are present in the water.

Colton revealed last month that a barge unloading live ammunition from the aircraft USS Bennington capsized in Gravesend Bay in March, 1954 with 219 tons of munitions. Damage to the USS Bennington due to a boiler room explosion led to the aircraft carrier being routed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs. However, ships were required to remove all explosives before entering the upper harbor in New York City. Reportedly, during the offloading of the ammunition a sudden storm caused the barge to capsize and break loose, resulting in the munitions sinking into the Gravesend Bay area. A Petty Officer aboard the carrier at the time of the incident has confirmed this account of events, according to published reports

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