Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland

Original home of the nation's chemical and biological weapons program, Edgewood is still the national center for research and development, test and evaluation, procurement and production of chemical materiel and related equipment. Edgewood (officially known as the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground), is one of three sites overseen by the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the entity which is ultimately responsible for its activities. The other sites which comprise the ECBC, are to be found in Pine Bluff, Ark., and Rock Island, Ill. Since WWI, large amounts of chemical weapons have been manufactured, tested, and disposed of on the extensive grounds of Edgewood, which include numerous islands, bays, estuaries, marshes, and rivers on the edge of Chesapeake Bay. Numerous unexploded chemical weapons have been found on land and under water, many of which have been left on site, as they were too dangerous to move.