Island reopening after old bombs removed

FISHKILL, N.Y., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Bannerman's Island, located in New York's Hudson River, is to reopen to tourists this fall after being closed because of two unexploded bombs.

A pair of West Point cadets discovered the first ordnance in the river last June, prompting officials to close the island to tourism, MidHudson News Network reported Monday.

The news service says the ordnance was probably left over from the turn of the 20th century.

"The first was found in June off the east shore of Bannerman's ...," said Jayne McLaughlin, regional state parks director. "The second was found in August further out off the northern shore."

McLaughlin said both were disposed of by a state police bomb squad.

Bannerman's castle was built by Francis Bannerman in the early 1900s to store ammunition for his business, which had purchased more than 90 percent of the U.S. Army surplus after the Spanish-American war.