Found Unexploded Ordnance While Magnet Fishing? Here's the Exact Protocol

How Common Is UXO in U.S. Waterways?

The United States has a long history of military training, weapons testing, and wartime production that left significant quantities of unexploded ordnance in waterways across the country. The Army Corps of Engineers' Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program has identified over 4,700 properties with potential UXO contamination — many of which include adjacent or underlying waterways.

Rivers near former training grounds are particularly high-risk: the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, sections of the Potomac, the Tennessee River near former WWII facilities, and coastal waterways in Virginia and Maryland all have documented UXO recovery histories. Civilian scrap metal drives during World War II resulted in large quantities of military equipment being discarded in ways that weren't systematically tracked. Post-war, some military bases disposed of obsolete ordnance in nearby waterways before environmental regulations made that practice illegal.

Magnet fishers have pulled up grenades, artillery shells, mortar rounds, rifle grenades, and even small aerial bombs from rivers across the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southeast. These aren't hypothetical edge cases — magnet fishing communities have documented hundreds of UXO finds over the past decade.

What UXO Can Look Like

Recognizing potential UXO is difficult because decades of water immersion, corrosion, and sediment encrustation can make ordnance look like shapeless rust. Common shapes to be aware of:

• Hand grenades: Roughly oval or pineapple-shaped, typically 3–5 inches long. May have a visible pin assembly or simply look like a heavily corroded metal egg.
• Mortar rounds: Cylindrical with a distinctive finned tail, ranging from 3 to 12+ inches in length depending on caliber (60mm, 81mm, 4.2-inch).
• Artillery shells: Large cylindrical objects, often with a pointed nose. Can range from 37mm to several inches in diameter.
• Rifle grenades: Elongated with a tube meant to fit over a rifle barrel. May resemble a small artillery round.
• Flares and signal rounds: Often cylindrical, may appear similar to pipe — but can still contain energetic materials.

If you're uncertain whether an object is ordnance, treat it as ordnance. The cost of an unnecessary 911 call is zero. The cost of handling an actual unexploded grenade is potentially your life.

The Exact Protocol: Step by Step

Step 1 — Do Not Touch It

This bears repeating because the instinct when you've pulled something interesting from a river is to handle it. If you suspect UXO, that instinct must be overridden completely. UXO can detonate from impact, tilting, heat, or friction — even after decades of water immersion. The water has actually preserved some ordnance better than exposure to air would have. Do not tap it, roll it, or drop it.

Step 2 — Back Away 300 Feet Minimum

Move yourself and everyone with you at least 300 feet from the object. This is the Army's minimum safe standoff distance for suspected UXO during initial reporting — not the distance at which you're guaranteed to be safe from any size ordnance, but the distance that covers the vast majority of small-arms and hand-thrown munitions.

Step 3 — Call 911

Unlike a firearm find (which goes to non-emergency police), suspected UXO is always a 911 call. Tell the dispatcher: "I believe I have found unexploded military ordnance at [location]. I have moved away from it and no one has touched it." Give them GPS coordinates if you have them, or the clearest possible landmark description.

Step 4 — Wait and Guide Emergency Responders

Stay on the line with dispatch and wait for law enforcement to arrive. They will contact the nearest military EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) unit. Do not attempt to show responding officers the object until they have confirmed EOD is en route — the officers themselves are not trained to handle ordnance and should not approach it either.

Step 5 — Do Not Return to the Area

Once you have handed off information to law enforcement, do not return to the area until EOD has cleared it. EOD will assess, render safe, and remove the ordnance. This process can take anywhere from an hour to several days depending on the type of ordnance and access conditions.

Legal Consequences of Handling UXO

Handling unexploded ordnance — even accidentally — can have legal implications beyond the obvious safety risk. Under 18 U.S.C. § 842 and related federal explosives statutes, possession of military explosive devices without authorization is a federal felony, regardless of intent. The law does not require that you know the object is ordnance; constructive possession of an explosive device is what matters.

This means that loading a suspected grenade into your truck and driving it to a police station — even with the best intentions — is technically a federal crime. The correct action is always to leave it in place and call for professional response. "I was trying to be helpful" is not a defense under federal explosives law.

Documenting Your Find (From a Safe Distance)

Once you are at safe standoff distance, documentation is appropriate — but keep it to what's visible from where you're standing or from a zoomed phone camera. Do not approach the object to get a better photo. Note:

• The GPS coordinates of the find location
• The time and date
• What the object looks like from your safe distance (general shape, size, color)
• The waterway name and nearest landmark

Law enforcement and EOD will appreciate this documentation and it protects you by establishing that you acted responsibly from the moment of discovery.

High-Risk Waterways: Where UXO Is More Likely

While UXO can appear anywhere, certain areas carry elevated risk and deserve extra caution:

• Waterways adjacent to former military bases, especially those active during WWI or WWII
• Rivers near former munitions plants (Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland)
• Coastal waterways in Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, and Florida near former naval testing sites
• Great Lakes harbors near shipyards active during wartime production
• Rivers in the Mid-Atlantic near former training ranges (Aberdeen Proving Ground watershed, for example)

If you fish in these regions regularly, familiarize yourself with what UXO looks like before you go — not after you've pulled something up.

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