YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Normal operations have resumed at Yokota in western Tokyo after unexploded ordnance found Monday turned out to be an old box of bullets.

Residents of Kenney Court, an area that houses the U.S. Forces Japan commander and other high-ranking officers, were allowed to return to their homes after an explosive ordnance disposal team removed and disposed of the bullets that afternoon.

Construction workers unearthed the ordnance before noon that day, an Air Force statement said. The discovery prompted security forces to cordon off the area and notify the EOD team to assess the situation.

There was no threat to base personnel or the local community, a base spokesman said.

Leftover and unexploded ordnance is scattered throughout Asia and the Pacific, especially at battle sites and current and former ammunition depots.

Last February, 12 World War II-era mines containing traces of TNT were removed from Sasebo Naval Base, Japan. In 2006, 350 people were evacuated after workers building a gym unearthed an unexploded ordnance cache from the base.

In May 2016, a 5-inch unexploded shell fired from an American warship during WWII was found at a construction site near Camp Kinser, Okinawa. A road was closed and hundreds of residents and workers were evacuated for its removal.

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