The Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant is an inactive United States Army ammunition plant located in the Ramsey County, Minnesota in the suburbs of Arden Hills and New Brighton, bounded by County Road I to the north, Interstate 35W to the west, U.S. Route 10 to the southwest, County Highway 96 to the south, and Lexington Avenue to the east. The site has 255 buildings across 2,382 acres (9.64 km2).[1] The site was added to the National Priorities List as a Superfund site on September 8, 1983.[2] The soil, sediments, groundwater, and surface water surrounding the plant were contaminated with base neutral acids, metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, volatile organic compounds, pesticides, cyanide, and explosives.[3]
Contents |
The TCAAP was a product of the government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) war materials production program established by the War Department during World War II. The Minneapolis - Saint Paul area emerged as a potential GOCO candidate primarily on the basis of labor supply. TCAAP was one of six GOCO plants built to produce small arms ammunition during World War II, and was operated by the Federal Cartridge Corporation under contract to the War Department.
Construction of the plant began in August 1941 and was completed with three main munitions facilities. Each main facility had five lines of production and the entire plant had a total of 35 lines.
The mission of TCAAP was to produce .30, .50 and .45 caliber ammunition. Production of small arms ammunition began on March 9, 1942, and the plant remained in production for 42 months. Between 1942 and 1945, TCAAP produced all five main small arms types: ball, armor piercing, tracer, incendiary, and blanks. In 1944 the plant opened an important small arms ammunition reclamation center. The design of the .30 and .50 caliber cartridge-disassembly machines by TCAAP personnel in the late 1940s represented a significant technological advance in small arms salvage technology. Development in ammunition salvage begun during World War II continued at the facility during the Cold War period. The work force reached its peak in July 1943, when employment totaled about 26,000 people, more than half of whom were women.
After Victory over Japan Day, Twin Cities Ordnance Plant was placed in reserve status and "mothballed". Renamed the Twin Cities Arsenal, it was operated by the US Army from 1946 to 1950, when the installation was brought back into production to manufacture small arms and artillery ammunition for the Korean War. The Arsenal remained in service until 1957 when it was again closed down. In 1965, during the Vietnam War, the plant was re-opened for the manufacture of new types of small arms ammunition. It was on standby status from 1976 through 2002. In 2002 over 600 acres (2.4 km2) were declared "in excess" by the United States Army, though Alliant Techsystems continued to manufacture munitions there as recently as 2005.
On May 10th, 2011 it was announced that the plant's site would be a possible future home of a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. [4]