SAHUARITA, Ariz. — After 65 years, the U.S. military now says an old bombing range near Sahuarita could be a danger to the public.
In the 1940s and '50s, 27,000 acres east of Sahuarita was used as an Air Force bombing range for training during World War II. The action for now is to put up 100 warning signs around the site. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is spearheading the effort and should be done by the end of March.
“I’d just hate as the mayor, as a citizen, for something to go wrong," Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy said.But as Sahuarita grows, the range is now near a new housing development and a church.“I guess my one wish would have been before we had all this growth, they had the initiative to clean it up before now," Murphy said.Superintendent Manuel Valenzuela said before this new signage project, the district had been in communication with the military.