SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Finally, a Clean Sweep in Tierrasanta

It is two decades and two deaths too late, but the commencement of the long-awaited $4-million sweep for buried ordnance in Tierrasanta should bring a measure of relief to residents of the community built on a former Marine Corps artillery range.

Though the homeowners can never be certain that the land around their homes is free of unexploded artillery shells, the 30-month sweep appears to satisfy community demand for the most thorough possible search of the area. Despite past foot searches, shells turn up every month as the canyon land erodes--though most of the explosives are not live.

In 1983, two 8-year-olds, Corey Alden Peake and Matthew Smith, found one of those shells and were killed when it exploded after they banged it on a rock. After a lawsuit and much public pressure, the city reluctantly agreed to post warning signs.

In the 1,600-acre search scheduled to begin this month, magnetic detectors will probe for shells to a depth of three feet, where virtually all of the ordnance is believed to be.

It is little comfort to repeat that the search should have been done 20 years ago, when the land was turned over to a developer.

But when the sweep ends, Tierrasanta parents can send their children to play knowing that the best effort has been made to clear the canyons of deadly attractions.