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Raleigh waits on Army before banning ammo at scrap plants

Three months after a load of unexploded ordnance wound up at a Raleigh scrap-metals plant, city officials continue to study possible limits on what materials such plants can accept.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Three months after a load of unexploded ordnance wound up at a Raleigh scrap-metals plant, city officials continue to study possible limits on what materials such plants can accept.

Two workers were injured in February when military munitions in a load of scrap metal exploded at at Raleigh Metals Recycling, a scrap processing plant on Garner Road.

A team of munitions experts from Fort Bragg spent four days locating and detonating more than 30 explosive devices at the scrap plant. Garner Road had to be shut down, and nearby residents were forced from their homes during the operation.

Four men have been detained in the case, and authorities located other munitions at a mobile home park in Sanford.

The Raleigh City Council's Law and Public Safety Committee has been looking at tightening local ordinances since February to prevent similar problems in the future. This week, committee members said they can not take any action until they receive a report from the Army and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which has been investigating the case.

City officials said they want to know exactly where the munitions came from and how they ended up at the plant before they set the language in any proposed ordinance.

Army officials at Fort Bragg and agents with the ATF in Charlotte couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

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