Bomb Squad Detonates World War II Weapon off Gardiners Island

An unexploded weapon, believed to have been left over from World War II, was found and detonated off Gardiners Island last week, police officials said.

East Hampton Town Police Chief Ed Ecker said Thursday that some boaters stopped at "the ruins," an atoll off Gardiners Island in East Hampton, and discovered an ordnance that had not been exploded.

They alerted the Coast Guard, which in turn alert East Hampton Town police. Ecker's department called in the Suffolk County Police Bomb Squad, which arrived on the afternoon of July 5. Marine Patrol brought the bomb squad officers over the island.

The ordnance was detonated there.

The Suffolk County Sheriff's office, whose marine patrol officers assisted as well, said the device was believed to have been used during WWII, and unearthed by Superstorm Sandy.

Ecker said that area was used for bombing training during the war.

Other similar devices have been found in the area. In June 2011, a World War II era hand grenade was unearthed and then detonated in Amagansett, after workers installing a sprinkler system came across it on Stony Hill Road. Bomb squad officers discovered it was a live grenade and decided to use a robot to detonate it on scene.

In addition to the call on July 5, Suffolk County’s marine patrol units performed security sweeps of more than 1,000 miles of the county's coastline over the July Fourth weekend. The initiative, known as OPERATION S.H.I.E.L.D. (Suffolk Homeland Security Interdiction and Education for Long Island Defense), is coordinated by the Sheriff’s office, in conjunction with the State Division of Homeland Security and
Emergency Services Office of Counter Terrorism, the United States Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, local police and bay constables, and members of the East End Marine Task Force.

Over 280 vessels, including 33 foreign flagged vessels, were checked, the sheriff's office said. "They cited 6 federal law violations and 84 other law violations, including registration and equipment violations. Hazmat officers detected 3 radiation sources, which were mitigated as safe sources," a statement from the office said on Wednesday.

Coast Guard Station Montauk also assisted a vessel taking on water off Montauk.