An explosive ordnance disposal team from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station safely destroyed a box of old, unstable dynamite discovered Monday morning at a Clinton home for sale.

The box was believed to hold more than 30 sticks of dynamite. The residence is located in the Cultus Bay area of South Whidbey.

“It was relatively old, so old they used a robot to move it,” said Island County Sheriff’s Office Detective Ed Wallace.

Dynamite sticks sweat nitroglycerin which, over time, crystallizes and becomes sensitive to shock, friction and temperature.

Wallace said the Navy team soaked the box of dynamite and burned it without any explosions.

The road near the residence was closed as a safety precaution based on the Navy team’s minimum safe distance perimeter.

Wallace said this type of incident is not new to Island County. Previous finds of old dynamite were handled in a similar manner, though he said this was the largest amount he was aware of.

“It’s happened before, not to this quantity,” he said, citing the rural nature of Island County and use of dynamite to demolish old structures or clear out property of stumps or boulders.

Dynamite is highly regulated in how it is stored and who may possess it, Wallace said. He recommends that anyone with old dynamite contact the sheriff’s office before trying to move it.

“If people have explosives, they need to be disposed of properly,” he said. “We can’t even do it.”

Island County law enforcement does not have its own bomb squad. Instead, the sheriff’s office has a list of agencies to ask, starting with the Washington State Patrol.

Wallace said the State Patrol was not able to mobilize quickly, so the sheriff’s office deferred the job to the Navy.

“There’s a protocol in place, and Navy came down and took care of it,” Wallace said.