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The US Army safely removed the canisters, and will analyze any contents, the US Park Police said in an update Thursday morning.
Out of an abundance of caution, the park was closed just east of Fort Totten Drive, south of Gallatin Street, and north of Brookland Ave NE/Farragut St. The United States Park Police has blocked off the site, and the NPS urges people to stay out of the area.
The canisters were found in a large mound of soil along Farragut St. that appears to have been pushed into the park from the road.
In July 2020, the NPS discovered an empty WWI-era metal canister on the surface of the ground in a different area of Fort Totten Park (east of the Metrorail Station) while working on the Fort Totten Trail. At the time, the NPS thought that the canister could be an unexploded ordnance, and the canister was immediately removed from the site and inspected by the Department of Defense (DOD).
The information provided by DOD indicates the munition was an unfused and unused, empty canister, and it was safely disposed of. The source of the munition is unknown. Following the 2020 discovery, the NPS investigated the area around the trail for additional metal canisters and none were found.
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