Twin Cities Ammunition Plant Site, Minnesota

This was a major munitions plant, with 255 buildings on 2,300 acres, north of Minneapolis. It was built during World War II, as one of six government-owned, contractor-operated munitions plants, producing small arms ammunition to the military, operated by Honeywell for many years. At its peak, in 1943, it employed more than 25,000 people. It was put on standby after the war, but went online again during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Portions of it were closed in 2002, though ATK, the primary company that supplies bullets to the military, and which was based in Minneapolis until just a few years ago, continued to use the site after that. Today, the Army Reserves has a training area and a major vehicle maintenance area on a portion of the property, but the ordnance works areas are abandoned, and many buildings have recently been demolished. The site is in an area where development is filling in around it, putting pressure on re-use efforts, which requires major soil and groundwater remediation. One building on site, #504, was the source for around 1,500 barrels of toxic material that was dumped in Lake Superior, off the shore of Duluth, creating an underwater Superfund site, near the city’s water intake.