Unexploded ordnance dredged from Pearl Harbor will be detonated and destroyed today and possibly Thursday, the Navy said.

"At no time will the public be at risk," Navy Region Hawaii Environmental Program Director Aaron Poentis said in a news release. "The project site is located within a secured area on Navy property on Waipio Peninsula. Depending on the winds and weather, the public along the Pearl Harbor waterfront at Waipahu, Ewa, Pearl City, Aiea and Pearl Harbor-Hickam and others may hear a series of loud noises which indicate intentional detonation actions to render the items harmless."

Tentative times for the detonations are between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. A maximum of 15 detonationswill be allowed, the Navy said. Each controlled detonation event will use no more than 15 pounds of explosives.

Munitions recovered from the screening of dredged material include 11 4.5-inch barrage rockets; 9 40 mm projectiles and/or cartridges; and 59 20 mm projectiles, cartridges and/or detonating fuzes.

"Due to past historical events, e.g., Dec. 7, 1941, attack, May 1944 Landing Ship Tank explosion, suspected past disposal practices, etc., some munitions are suspected to be in waters of Pearl Harbor," Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii said in the release.

On May 21, 1944, 29 landing ships were being loaded in the west end of Pearl Harbor with fuel, weapons and ammunition for the invasion of Saipan and Guam when a chain-reaction explosion occurred. Six landing ships sank, 163 men died, and 396 were wounded.

Denise Emsley, a spokeswoman for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii, said she had no information as to the era the munitions were from.

Beach barrage rockets were developed in 1942 for fire support during amphibious landing operations. Both 40 mm and 20 mm anti-aircraft rounds were used in World War II.

Emsley said the harbor has to be dredged periodically to remove silt that reduces water depth and can affect ship movement.

In April, contractor Cape Environmental Management Inc. began the munitions screening and removal portion of the project, the Navy said.

But due to budget constraints, further munitions screening and removal has been temporarily discontinued, the engineering command said. Additional field work is estimated to resume around March.

Emsley said 200,000 cubic yards of dredged harbor material has been deposited at Waipio Peninsula. The contractor has removed munitions from about 7,700 cubic yards, she said. The soil is from multiple dredging efforts.

"It’s going to be an ongoing project for years to come because we’re going to be dredging and putting more silt there and dewatering it — letting it dry out, letting it dewater — and then sifting through it," she said.