At Columboola, Queensland, 144 old artillery shells were discovered, with mustard gas inside them. The shells are believed to date back to the World War II. As a result, the Defense Department became alert to the fact that they are in need of some serious cleansing, and so coordinated with the mining Company, US and some international experts, to find ways to get rid of the shells.

This piece of land currently belongs to a mining Company in west Brisbane, Queensland, but during the World War II it was owned by a US ammunitions depot.

A Spokesperson addressed the Australian chemical warfare agents at Columboola, saying that the priority in that process of cleaning away the area is the safety of the personnel, adding that the shells are now sealed in plastic in order to secure the transfer.

The Spokesperson said, "Defense technicians inspected a number of ordnance items that were found. Some were inert and unusual, and have subsequently been gifted to the Australian War Memorial. Some appeared to be intact".

However, the Defense failed to identify how many munitions were actually buried in that land, or the neighboring ones. As a result, it would hire more personnel to start a search to detect any further shells.