- Tooele Army Depot conducted planned detonations, causing loud booms across Wasatch Front.
- Residents were startled due to coinciding news of an attack on U.S. military bases in Qatar.
- Army Depot leadership apologized for any distress the detonations caused.
TOOELE — The Tooele Army Depot issued an apology Monday for any stress caused by detonations in the West Desert, in light of the attack on the U.S. military base in Qatar.
The Tooele Army Depot announced in a post on the social platform X that it would conduct open detonations Monday, starting as early as 11 a.m. Still, many people across the Wasatch Front were caught off guard, with residents in the southwestern part of the Salt Lake Valley reporting they felt and heard the blasting.
This work to destroy old war munitions at the Army Depot has been going on for more than 80 years. Over the past year, leadership at the military post has tried to be very transparent about their detonation process.
Col. Luke R. Clover, commander at the Army Depot, said it's important for the community to know that the military is not trying to hide anything, and the munitions they're destroying — some dating back to World War II — have been deemed hazardous or unsafe to use.
"We want to share to let everybody know what it is that we're doing out here in support of the national defense and the United States military," he said.
On Monday, the depot conducted 14 detonations at the south range, starting at 11:30 a.m., with each detonation occurring about a minute apart. However, the last one was delayed about 10 minutes.
At about that same time, most major news networks started in on their special reports of the attack on the U.S. military base in Qatar. Some Utahns voiced frustration online with the timing.
In a statement to KSL, Army Depot spokesman Wade Mathews said: "We know the sounds and vibrations people experienced today surprised them and were very scary, especially considering current world events. We apologize for the fear and concern our routine operations caused. We are assessing the factors involved to minimize impacts in the future."
The Army Depot is located approximately 80 miles west of Salt Lake City in Utah's West Desert. Detonation season lasts from April to October and is weather-dependent.
Depending on conditions, the booming from detonations can be heard in several northern Utah counties. The military encourages noise reports so they can track how far the sound travels. You can submit noise reports by calling 435-833-3300 or emailing usarmy.tead.jmc.list.pao@army.mil.
