WEST MIDDLESEX, Ohio - The search for explosives in West Middlesex has been called off. Contractors specializing in explosives spent the majority of Thursday afternoon searching.
Roadways leading to the West Middlesex viaduct were blocked off as contractors specializing in explosives searched for five boxes of dynamite that may or may not be buried along the west side of the river.
The explosives are believed to have been placed in a cellar nearly 70 years ago. That cellar was then buried in the process of constructing the original viaduct.
"It's possible, I don't think it's probable, it's there," said West Middlesex Historian Bob Lark. "The reason I think it's possible is there were two hardware stores, Walker's and Tribby's. To my knowledge Walker's didn't sell dynamite, but Tribby's definitely did."
The dynamite is now a safety concern as PennDot plans to rebuild the viaduct and no one knows if the construction might set off the explosives.
"If it's wet, and the dynamite got wet, chances are it doesn't have much tick in it," said PennDot's Jim Carroll. "If it was dry and the nitroglycerin crystallized then it could be very sensitive and hazardous."
Officials originally identified three areas the dynamite could be located. Those areas were within 100-feet of one another and no deeper than 10-feet.
After searching two of the areas, and finding no sign of explosives, officials called off the search determining the third location did not seem promising.
They will reevaluate the situation and decide what the next step is, but no one has ruled out future searches.
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