Puerto Rico Bars Tourists from Culebrita while it Clears U.S. Military Ordinance
19 January 2009 6:19pm
A tiny Puerto Rican island popular with tourists has been closed to allow contractors to sweep its beaches for buried ammunition. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has hired a private company to scour the natural reserve for leftover projectile and bomb fragments.
The U.S. military used the island for bombing practice from 1930 to 1975. The Corps said Friday that Florida-based contractor USA Environmental hired a biologist to monitor any turtle nests that might be disturbed.
Culebrita lies east of mainland Puerto Rico and is popular with snorkelers and divers. It is home to the ruins of one of the oldest lighthouses in the Caribbean.
