A potato harvester found a possible historic explosive munition in a field on Wednesday for the second time this week, say police in Prince Edward Island.
East Prince RCMP said in a news release that they were called back to a farm in North Bedeque at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and found a suspected mortar mixed in with potatoes that were brought back from a field in Slemon Park.
The call came one day after a potential explosive was unearthed from the same field.
As with the first device, the Department of National Defence was called to collect the possible mortar on Wednesday.
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Both suspected munitions were found in a field that used to be part of the former military base in Slemon Park, police said in the release.
The base was decommissioned in the late 1980s and early ’90s and parts of it have been used as farm ground for many years since.
The farmer who discovered both mortars is renting the field this year, RCMP said.
This possible historic explosive munition was discovered Tuesday in a Slemon Park field during potato harvesting operations. (RCMP)
When the first device was found on Tuesday, police shared advice for what to do in such a situation.
“Our advice in any situation like this is for people to stand clear, act as if this is a live explosive that could go off and do not bring this into any military or police detachment,” said Cpl. Gavin Moore, the media relations officer for the P.E.I. RCMP.
“We will come and respond to the scene and hold the scene until the item can be disposed of.”
Moore said instances like this happen on occasion, but not frequently, on the Island.
The news release states that any concerns about this particular field will “will have to be addressed by the property owner in concert with the Department of National Defence.”
