Joliet Army Ammunition Plant
Encyclopedia
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
located in Will County, Illinois
Will County, Illinois
As of the census of 2000, there were 502,266 people, 167,542 households, and 131,017 families residing in the county. The population density was 600 people per square mile . There were 175,524 housing units at an average density of 210 per square mile...
, near Elwood, Illinois
Elwood, Illinois
Elwood is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,300 at the 2006 population estimation.-Geography:Elwood is located at . The nearest major highways are Interstate 80 to the north and Interstate 55 to the west. The former Route 66 highway passes through the...
, south of Joliet, Illinois
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
. Opened in 1940 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the facility consisted of the Elwood Ordnance Plant and the Kankakee Ordnance Works. In 1945, the two were deactivated and combined forming the Joliet Arsenal. The plant was reactivated for the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and renamed Joliet Army Ammunition Plant during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Production of TNT ended in 1976, and the major plant operations closed shortly after in the late 1970s. The facility briefly revived an automated load-assemble-pack (LAP) artillery shell operation that was managed by the Honeywell Corporation during the Reagan administration in the 1980s before it was finally closed.
Portions of the site have been redeveloped forming an Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
hub, Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery
Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery
The Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery covers in Elwood, Illinois. It is located approximately southwest of Chicago, Illinois. When fully completed, it will provide 400,000 burial spaces....
and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a prairie reserve operated by the United States Forest Service. It is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion. It is located on the site of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant near Elwood, Illinois, and was established by federal law in 1996...
.
Pre-World War II
Before the Second World War, the land in Jackson Township, Will County, IllinoisJackson Township, Will County, Illinois
Jackson Township is located in Will County, Illinois. The population was 3,541 at the 2000 census.- External links :****...
where the Joliet Arsenal was built consisted mostly of small family farms some of which were owned and managed by descendents of pioneer Illinois settlers. The federal government acquired some of the land in Jackson Township to build the Joliet Arsenal through eminent domain. Prior to the plants construction, there were 450 farms that had to be vacated by March 1, 1941. Initially there was some resistance from local farmers relating to prices and moving problems, but 90% of the land was paid for through negotiated settlements. The entire land acquisition cost the government $5 million dollars for the 40000 acres (161.9 km²) project. Ten preexisting farmhouses were moved from their original locations and used as staff housing. Six cemeteries were also on the property and they were maintained in place by the operating contractor.
World War II
The United States had very little capacity for manufacturing military munitions in 1939 when World War II broke out. Since the manufacture of munitions required specialized equipment and techniques there were no existing plants that could be converted. The solution to the lack of capacity was to create a large network of interlocking ammunitionAmmunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
plants. They would be government-owned, but contractor-operated (GOCO). More than 60 plants would be constructed between June 1940 and December 1942.
The Elwood Ordnance Plant, named for Elwood, Illinois
Elwood, Illinois
Elwood is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,300 at the 2006 population estimation.-Geography:Elwood is located at . The nearest major highways are Interstate 80 to the north and Interstate 55 to the west. The former Route 66 highway passes through the...
and the Kankakee Ordnance Works, named for the Kankakee River
Kankakee River
The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time the river drained one of the largest wetlands in North America and furnished a significant portage between the Great Lakes and the...
, were two of the first five to be constructed. In September 1940, Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation of New York was awarded the contract to construct the Kankakee Ordnance Works. Another New York firm, Sanderson and Porter, received the contract for the Elwood Ordnance Plant soon after. Construction on both plants began November 1940, with Elwood beginning production July 12, 1941 followed by Kankakee in September. The plants were separate since they had different purposes, Kankakee manufactured various types of explosives for use at other plants and Elwood loaded artillery shells, bombs, mines and other munitions.
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
, an experienced explosives manufacturer, was selected to operate the Kankakee plant while Sanderson and Porter would operate the Elwood facility. In April 1944, United States Rubber Company
United States Rubber Company
The United States Rubber Company was founded in Naugatuck, Connecticut in 1892. It was one of the original 12 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and became Uniroyal Inc...
would replace Du Pont as contractor at the Kankakee facility. TNT production at the Kankakee works occurred until August 1945 with a peak output of 5.5 million short ton
Short ton
The short ton is a unit of mass equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S...
s (5 million metric tons) per week. In November 1945, Elwood and Kankakee were combined to form the Joliet Arsenal. Following the war the site was not completely inactive, DuPont leased space to manufacture ammonium nitrate for fertilizer. Over 10,425 people were employed at the two plants during the peak production of World War II. Elwood loaded more than 926 million bombs, shells, mines, detonators, fuzes, and boosters, and Kankakee produced over one billion pounds (450 million metric tons) of TNT.
Plant Explosion
Though both plants were designed with safety as a primary concern, at 2:45 AM, June 5, 1942, a large explosion on the assembly line at the Elwood facility resulted in 48 dead or missing and was felt as far as Waukegan, IllinoisWaukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
over 60 miles (96.6 km) north. Assembly Lines were located in separate buildings which were separated by substantial distances limiting major damage to the facility as a whole.
Korean War
Production resumed in 1952 after rehabilitation of the facility by the United States Army Corps of EngineersUnited States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
. The Kankakee portion was used to manufacture TNT under the control of contractor United States Rubber Company while Elwood operated under US Government control. Following the Korean war, Elwood would continue production in a limited capacity until deactivated in 1965. Kankakee production would end in 1957.
Vietnam War
The Elwood unit was reopened in 1966 and would produce artillery rounds, supplementary charge assemblies and cluster bombCluster bomb
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller sub-munitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles...
units. The Kankakee unit was reopened in 1965 and would manufacture TNT until 1976. During the Vietnam War the Joliet Arsenal was renamed Joliet Army Ammunition Plant. The majority of operations at the facility were terminated by the late 1970s.
Redevelopment
In 1993, 23,500 acres (95.1 km²) of land was declared to be excess. Redevelopment plans included around 3,000 acres (12 km²) for two industrial parks, 455 acres (1.8 km²) for the Will County Landfill, 982 acres (4 km²) for the Abraham Lincoln National CemeteryAbraham Lincoln National Cemetery
The Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery covers in Elwood, Illinois. It is located approximately southwest of Chicago, Illinois. When fully completed, it will provide 400,000 burial spaces....
and 19,000 acres (77 km²) for the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a prairie reserve operated by the United States Forest Service. It is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion. It is located on the site of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant near Elwood, Illinois, and was established by federal law in 1996...
. The government retained a portion as the Joliet Army Training Area. As of 2006, the industrial parks include a 621 acre (2.5 km²) Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. intermodal facility developed and owned by CenterPoint Properties
CenterPoint Properties
CenterPoint Properties is a a privately owned real estate developer based in the Chicago, Illinois suburb Oakbrook, Illinois that owns and develops large industrial real estate tracts particularly intermodal facilities....
, and a 3400000 square feet (315,870.3 m²) Wal-mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
distribution facility.
Environmental issues
The EPA maintains portions of the property on the SuperfundSuperfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
national priorities list. Clean up includes composting by the Army Corps of Engineers. The cemetery and industrial parks were on the buffer portion of the facility, and there was little or no cleanup required. However, portions of the site that became Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a prairie reserve operated by the United States Forest Service. It is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion. It is located on the site of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant near Elwood, Illinois, and was established by federal law in 1996...
were heavily contaminated, the EPA expects that cleanup will be required until 2010.
See also
- Alabama Army Ammunition PlantAlabama Army Ammunition PlantThe Alabama Army Ammunition Plant , was a United States munitions plant built and operated during World War II. The facility is located a four miles north of Childersburg, Alabama in Talladega County, Alabama.-History:...
- Badger Army Ammunition PlantBadger Army Ammunition PlantThe Badger Army Ammunition Plant or Badger Ordnance Works is an excess, non-BRAC, United States Army facility located near Baraboo, Wisconsin. Badger consists of 7,354 acres of land. It manufactured nitrocellulose-based propellants during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam...
- Green River Ordnance PlantGreen River Ordnance PlantThe Green River Ordnance Plant, also known as the Green River Arsenal, was a large munitions factory complex between Dixon and Amboy in Lee County, Illinois.It was rapidly constructed in 1942 and just as quickly shut down in 1945...
- Lee County, Illinois - Indiana Army Ammunition PlantIndiana Army Ammunition PlantThe Indiana Army Ammunition Plant was an Army manufacturing plant built in 1941 between Charlestown and Jeffersonville, Indiana. It consisted of three areas within two separate but attached manufacturing plants:...
- Lake City Army Ammunition PlantLake City Army Ammunition PlantLake City Army Ammunition Plant is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility in Independence, Missouri that was established by Remington Arms in 1941 to manufacture and test small caliber ammunition for the U.S. Army. The facility has remained in continuous operation except for one 5-year...
- Rock Island ArsenalRock Island ArsenalThe Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with...
- Another US Army Arsenal in Illinois - Sunflower Army Ammunition PlantSunflower Army Ammunition PlantThe Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant was a smokeless powder and propellant manufacturing facility in northwest Johnson County, Kansas owned by the United States Government and operated under contract, primarily by Hercules Aerospace Company....
External links
- GlobalSecurity.org
- Midewin Tallgrass Prairie - Arsenal history
- Joliet Arsenal Development Authority- Arsenal History
- HAER Survey number HAER IL-18 - 64 data pages
- Joliet Army Ammunition Plant - EPA District 5 Superfund list
- Joliet Army Ammunition Plant (Load-Assembly-Packing Area) - EPA SuperfundSuperfundSuperfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
(Elwood Ordnance Plant) - Joliet Army Ammunition Plant (Manufacturing Area) - EPA SuperfundSuperfundSuperfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
(Kankakee Ordnance Works) - Composting cleans up contamination at former ammo plant June 2001
- Joliet Army Ammunition Plant: Facilitating Progress
- Joliet Army Ammunition Plant (Load-Assembly-Packing Area) - EPA Superfund