Anyone encountered Formerly used defense site property?

Question

Recently I had this bizarre case and any advise will be appreciated.

I'm looking into an investment property (mostly recreational) with great deal. Under further investigation it shows it's right beside formerly used defense site (FUDS) with potential UXO concern- old inspection reports showed mainly practice shells with some small caliber munitions. Now I'm not sure about how to move on.

From one end I saw people telling it's a common thing to see them and you can just call police if you really encountered them. Military will take further look one day in the future and get risk assessed. Plus good pricing.

On another end I'm concerned about risk and liability, it seems like military will be responsible for clean this up but I will need to inform visitors about potential risk. I did further search and can't find actual cases related to this.

I'd like to hear from anyone has dealt with FUDS property before or have some experiences with this.

David Krulac · Answer

@Yi C.

Be concerned about evironment pollution and hazardous substances also

Yi C. · Answer

Thanks for remind.  Military seem to be responsible for clean up/remediation if needed. The major issue is probably related to UXO related body injury and it seems quite uncommon. If I can't find any insurance dealing with this I will just not proceed on the deal.

Ken M. · Answer

When I hear about finding WWII live ammunition 82 years after WWII ended, there is no way this guy i staking his dog for a walk on that kind of land.

"From one end I saw people telling it's a common thing to see them and you can just call police if you really encountered them."

While you balance on your remaining leg.

Buy lots of insurance.

Yi C. · Answer

This is something that really comes in my curiosity. There's FUDS everywhere in the US and affects a number of property owners, yet I never see any cases related to how such liability is determined.

I wouldn't expect regular insurance will cover this and it seems like many people just hold it without insurance until it's addressed by government one day in the future. Or they just create LLC to control liability?