Badger Army Ammunition Plant, Wisconsin

Once one of the largest ammunition plants in the country, Badger is being cleaned up and prepared for transition to civilian use. Operated by Olin Industries for much of its recent life, Badger manufactured primarily smokeless powder and small rocket propellant. It was active mostly during WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam. Between the wars, and until official surplus status was announced in 1997, it was on standby, ready to go into production in case a war demanded it. In 2004, the operation and clean up of the site was transferred from Olin to Spec Pro, Inc., an Alaskan Native company. Once clean up is declared completed, the land will be used as grazing land by the department of Agriculture and the Ho-Chunk nation (a local tribe). Around half of the 7,300 acre site will be wildlife area, managed by the National Park Service and the State. Local municipalities and the highway department will also establish facilities there.