Broughton Island (Sep 06/04) - The military was caught off guard by the discovery of about 100 sticks of dynamite and a dozen blasting caps at a local DEW Line site, though hunters in the area have apparently known about the explosives for years.

A site worker came across the explosives on the Fox-5 site, about 10 kilometres outside of town, around Aug. 15, said Lt.-Col. Daniel Paquet, project manager for the territory-wide DEW Line clean up.

Blasting caps are commonly found during clean-ups, said Paquet, though this is the first time dynamite has been found on one of the 21 sites.

How or why the dynamite got there is still unknown.

As a precautionary measure, the military notified local officials and the RCMP cordoned off the area to make sure nobody could get near the site.

When ignited, one stick of dynamite is "powerful enough to hurt somebody," Paquet said, but the Fox-5 sticks remained dormant.

"These were not recent. They've been there for quite a while," he said, adding that he didn't believe the explosives were dangerous.

The Hunters and Trappers Association agreed.

"They don't pose any danger. They are in an area where people don't normally go," manager Seemee Nookiguak said.

The community has been aware of the explosives for many years, which is why people rarely walk near the area, Nookiguak said.

A specially trained explosives team was brought in Aug. 16-19 to safely burn the materials in a 45-gallon drum, Paquet said.

No other explosives were found during a search of the four square kilometre site.