Findings of Fact 145 C. Cls. form of negligence in unnecessarily endangering the lives of your employees and others. * 17. a. The dedudding referred to in the immediately preceding letter consisted of the first dedudding inspection in the fall of 1946 (finding 7, supra), and a second dedudding operation in March 1947 by a private contractor engaged by defendant. On this latter occasion the dedudding inspection was confined to an area in tract 113 probably corresponding to the area shown on defendant's map of February 13, 1947 (finding 13 b, supra), as "restricted for grazing only". The contractor burned off the underbrush in advance to facilitate the visual inspection. His contract required him to explode all live shells found, to remove shrapnel, and to probe any openings in the ground indicative of buried duds. They found a number of live shells and hand grenades in the vicinity of Kaolin Hill, many of them partially buried. Some live 105 mm. howitzer shells had missed Kaolin Hill and rolled down into unrestricted areas. b. Also about this same time an eight-man team of military personnel made a visual inspection (not an exhaustive search) of tracts 113 and 166, most of which was covered by underbrush hindering vision. On tract 113 they found 60 mm. and 81 mm. light mortar shells, both HE and smoke, on Kaolin Hill in the restricted area, in addition to expended mortar shells. Live shells found were destroyed. On tract 166 they found and removed about thirty 105 mm. howitzer smoke shells, all expended, and all lying on the surface as though they had been found elsewhere and deposited there. c. As a result of the dedudding inspections and searches an authorized officer of the War Department issued, on April 9, 1947, a Certificate of Dedudding reciting as follows: This is to certify that all lands within Camp Wheeler, Georgia have been given a careful visual inspection and have been cleared (with exception of 16.61 acres by metes and bounds survey and shown on Real Estate Drawing No. 1/288 Camp Wheeler, Georgia) of all dangerous and/or explosive materials reasonably possible to detect. To the Best of my knowledge and belief, this range will not require additional dedudding to render safe for public use. 39 Findings of Fact - The map accompanying the certificate of dedudding delineated an area of 16.61 acres, all except a small fraction being in tract 113, bearing the notation "Dangerous impact areanot completely decontaminated to date. 4-1-47." This restricted area in tract 113 was included in but much smaller than the area shown on defendant's map of February 13, 1947 (finding 13 b, supra) as "restricted to grazing only." d. In the fall of 1947 another military inspection was made of the area. This inspection took three weeks. Its object was to check on the work done under the previous dedudding contracts. This inspection was confined to previously restricted areas and impact areas. 18. a. During the period March-June 1949 tracts 113 and 166 were again dedudded. A team of 16 men, including 7 military specialists, 8 civilians, and 1 demolition technician, searched tract 113 for the equivalent of 11 days, and a team of 8 military personnel searched tract 166 for the equivalent of 4 days. Portions of tract 113 were burned over in advance to facilitate the search. The searchers linked hands and, in a moving line, visually inspected both tracts in even lanes, up and down and crisscross. Live duds were flagged, and destroyed later by demolition experts. Equipment such as mine detectors was not used in the search because it is of no value for such purposes. b. On May 24, 1949, a Certificate of Dedudding was issued as to tract 166 which read as follows: All lands within Tract No. 166, Camp Wheeler, Georgia, as shown on drawing (Real Estate, Camp Wheeler, Military Reservation) dated 5/13/43, have been given a careful visual inspection and have been cleared of all dangerous and/or explosive materials reasonably possible to detect. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this tract will not require additional dedudding to render safe for public use. Simultaneously a clearance report was issued certifying that no explosive objects were destroyed and no military scrap disposed of. c. Also on May 24, 1949, a clearance report was issued as to tract 113 certifying that a negligible amount of scrap Findings of Fact 145 C. Cls. metal was removed from the tract, and that the following explosive objects were destroyed: 6-81 mm. mortars, HE 4-M17A1 ground signal flares All of the HE mortars referred to as being destroyed were found in restricted areas 1 and 2 on tract 113. There were no live He duds found outside the restricted areas in the 1949 dedudding projects. No 105 mm. howitzer HE shells were found in either tract, although two live 105 mm. howitzer smoke shells were found and not reported. Apparently only the HE types of explosives were reported, and none of the other types, such as smoke shells, because they were not considered as being either explosive or dangerous. The officer supervising the dedudding considered all of tracts 113 and 166, outside of restricted areas 1 and 2 on tract 113, to be 99 percent safe for mining, admitting, however, there was a slender possibility of buried duds remaining in either tract. 19. After completion of the dedudding described in the preceding finding 18, the officer in charge of the military team was replaced by another officer. The successor officer and his team also searched tracts 113 and 166 in early fall 1949 in the same manner as before, and found no live 105 mm. shells on either tract and no trace that 105 mm. howitzer HE shells had ever been fired into either tract, a departure from the weight of contrary testimony. He found evidence that 60 and 81 mm. mortars, and 105 mm. howitzer smoke shells had been fired into tract 113. This successor officer executed a Certificate of Dedudding as to tract 113 on September 28, 1949, reading as follows: All land within: Tract No. 113, Camp Wheeler, Georgia as shown on Drawing No. 5343 Sheet 2 of 2 Real Estate Map of Camp Wheeler, Georgia, dated 13 May 1943, has been given a careful visual inspection and has been cleared of all dangerous and/or explosive materials reasonably possible to detect. 39 Findings of Fact To the best of my knowledge and belief this tract will not require additional dedudding to render safe for public use (with exceptions as listed): EXCEPTIONS: 35.313 acres of land as hatched on Map No. Wheel 291 A marked Area "1", and described in legal description attached hereto. 21.473 acres of land as hatched on Map No. Wheel 291 A marked Area "2", and described in legal description attached hereto. It is recommended that the above described excepted areas be fenced and posted, and that it be restricted from any use whatsoever. Attached to said Certificate of Dedudding was a map delineating restricted areas 1 and 2 on tract 113, containing, respectively, 35.80 acres and 20.477 acres, except for a small portion (approximately 1 acre) of restricted area 1 which runs over into an adjoining property. Restricted area 2 is located in the northern corner of tract 113 and is an extension of a larger restricted area extending into land adjoining tract 113 on its northwest side. In fixing the boundaries of restricted areas 1 and 2 the officer included a safety margin of 15 to 30 feet around their perimeters to allow for error. In his opinion there was no possibility of live dud shells remaining in the unrestricted areas of tracts 113 and 166. The military dedudding teams comprised specially trained personnel with highly qualified and experienced officers in charge. The operations were efficiently conducted. 20. a. In addition to the shells found during the dedudding inspections described in findings 7, 17, and 18, shells were found at various other times on tracts 113 and 166. b. In 1946 a live 105 mm. HE howitzer shell was found in tract 113 south of restricted area 1. It was exploded on site by military personnel who declared it to be dangerous. c. In the spring of 1947, after completion of the dedudding activity described in finding 7, the plaintiff commenced construction of a road 15 through tract 113 from its northeast to its southwest boundaries, skirting the west side of restricted area 1 which included Kaolin Hill, and terminating at the boundary of tract 166. During the early part of this construction six or seven 105 mm. smoke shells were found in an unrestricted area of tract 113 close to its bound Findings of Fact 145 C. Cls. ary with tract 166 and in another such area in the ravine north of Kaolin Hill. Military personnel were summoned to explode them. Again in 1948, while plaintiff was boring test holes in tract 113, other shells of unnamed types were found lying around or buried. d. In a later stage of constructing road 15, other shells were found on tract 113, at least one of which was a mortar shell said to be dangerous by military specialist assigned to attend the construction. Some of the shells referred to were buried 2 feet under the surface. On another occasion in 1949, plaintiff's workmen cutting road 16 through an unrestricted part of tract 113 found 2 shells of undesignated types. e. In 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1956 additional shells were discovered by plaintiff's employees in restricted and unrestricted areas of tract 113. Most of these shells were expended smoke or practice shells, and therefore harmless even if their presence would make workmen apprehensive. But some shells discovered in unrestricted areas of tract 113 were live shells of varieties other than HE, and they were exploded by defendant's personnel. f. Plaintiff has been under standing instructions to report to the Corps of Engineers each shell discovered on tracts 113 and 166, and such instructions have been observed by plaintiff. Each time such a report has been made, trained military personnel have been dispatched immediately to inspect and dispose of shells so found. Since the final dedudding project in the fall of 1949 there has never been reported to the Corps of Engineers any shell found on the tracts in question which turned out on examination to be a live HE shell. All shells reported and removed since the fall of 1949 by the defendant from the unrestricted areas of either tract have been practice or smoke shells. At no time has a dud shell on tract 113 or 166 ever exploded by coming into contact with plaintiff's personnel or heavy equipment either in cutting roads through or drilling numerous test holes in the tracts. 21. It is not possible from the record to determine precisely what types or numbers of shells have been found on tracts 113 and 166 since plaintiff's postwar reentry, or how |