TNT, Plastic Explosives Found Buried In North Shore Woods Off Route 1

ROWLEY, MA — Dynamite and plastic explosives found buried in a metal container off Route 1 in Rowley on Thursday were successfully detonated after a man with a metal detector unearthed them in a wooded section near the Newbury line.

Rowley Acting Police Chief Stephen May said the man contacted them at about 2:30 p.m. about the box of TNT and a small amount of explosives he found in the state-owned forest. Police said the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad arrived and detonated the material, with the U.S. Bureau Department of Alcohol & Firearms and FBI also called to the scene.

Rowley police said the box and the explosives appeared to have been in the ground for "an undetermined number of years."

"Due to the apparent age of the explosives and the amount of time they had been buried, no further investigative efforts are expected," Rowley said. "No homes were evacuated during the incident because the box was found in a remote part of town far away from any residences or businesses."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)