Federal lawsuit filed over munitions burning at Army base

SACRAMENTO - Environmentalists, Native Americans and rural residents sued the U.S. Army on Thursday to block the annual detonation of thousands of tons of bombs, land mines and artillery shells, contending the blasts hurt the environment and shake homes for miles around.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, said the explosions at the Sierra Army Depot, an isolated base in California near Herlong about 55 miles northwest of Reno, Nev., said the explosions and burnings of munitions have spewed toxic clouds into the air and contaminated soil and water.

Special crews at the base explode or burn about 12,000 tons a year of mostly old munitions, including ordnance from the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf wars.

Local residents, politicians in California and Nevada and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Tribe have long complained about the explosions, which critics said intensified during the mid-1990s with the closure of other military bases.

''We live 14 miles away in the Diamond Mountain Range, and they really rattle our house,'' said Larry Beach.''Our insurance company dropped us after paying on the claim to almost completely rebuild our house. The dogs bark, the animals go crazy.''

The suit says the open burning and demolition of the land mines, artillery shells, bombs, mortars, grenades - even spent rocket engines - violates California's health and safety code, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act, the main federal environmental protection law.

The depot's spokesperson did not immediately respond Thursday to a telephone message seeking comment.

The depot is seeking official permission to increase the amount of explosives it destroys, but the proposal has drawn sharp opposition in the community.