RESIDENTS URGED: REMOVE ORDINANCE

Macon, Ga.-area homeowners now living in Camp Wheeler, a World War II training camp have been warned there is a good possibility mortars and grenades could be buried on their land. Experts warn they could see their homeowners claims denied, policy costs shoot up, or even lose their coverage altogether unless they permit the government remove the live ordinance from their land.

Several residents told the Macon Telegraph they didn’t know about the training camp when they bought the land. The area was recently identified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the most dangerous of five contaminated areas in the 14,000-acre former camp.

“Once you have knowledge and you do not take prudent action, that can be considered negligence,” John Oxendine, Georgia Insurance Commissioner said. “And negligence can be a reason an insurance company uses to deny a claim.”

Oxendine said a comparable example would be a homeowner who does not remove a diseased or dead tree before it falls and damages property.