The Nebraska Ordnance Plant is a former United States Army ammunition plant located approximately ½ mile south of Mead, Nebraska and 30 miles west of Omaha, Nebraska in Saunders County. It originally extended across producing weapons from 1942-45 after which the Army used it as a bomb factory during the Vietnam War. Environmental investigations in the 1980's found the soil and groundwater contaminated with the explosive RDX and the degreaser trichloroethylene. In 1990, federal agencies added the site to the National Priorities List as a Superfund site. Remediation included soil excavation and water treatment, the latter of which has been ongoing since 1997. Water is contained and treated at 4 treatment plants and the known plumes are monitored at hundreds of wells. The latest wells, dug deeper into the bedrock than previously, showed RDX and TCE above desired action levels in April 2016.
Description
The former Nebraska Ordnance Plant is one of Nebraska's 5 major ammunition plants: the Cornhusker Ordnance Plant, the Sioux Army Depot, the Hastings Naval Ammunition Depot and the Martin Bomber Plant. It stretches over 17,250 acres of nearly flat terrain about half a mile south of the village Mead, Nebraska and 30 miles west of Omaha, Nebraska in Saunders County. Rain water drains to the southwest toward Silver Creek, Nebraska on the plants western part, and on its eastern portion to the south-southeast, toward Johnson Creek, Nebraska, Clear Creek, Nebraska, and the 'Lower Platte North Natural Resource District Reservoir'. The ground consists of sand and gravel deposits, and beyond 30 feet below the surface of sandstone. The groundwater generally flows south-southeast toward the Platte River Valley and is used as drinking water and for agriculture.
the University of Nebraska - Lincoln owns 8,650 acres on which it maintains an agricultural research and development center. The Department of Defense owns a portion used by the Nebraska National Guard and Army Reserves and the remainder is private property.
History
Army use, 1942-1962
The site started producing bombs, boosters, and shells in 1942 during World War II. It consisted of four bomb load lines, an explosive booster assembly plant, an ammonium nitrate plant, two explosives burning areas, a proving ground, a landfill, a wastewater treatment plant, analytical laboratories, and storage and administration facilities.
From 1942-1945 the Nebraska Defense Corporation operated the site for the Army. Ammunitions were loaded with trinitrotoluene (TNT), amatol (TNT and ammonium nitrate), tritonal (TNT and aluminum), and Composition B ( RDX and TNT). A 1943 article said that the Firestone Company operated the plant for the Army.
From 1950-1956, the plant was reactivated and produced weapons for the Korean War. In 1959 it was declared "excess to Army needs" and was transferred to the General Services Administration. The National Guard and Army Reserve retained roughly 1,000 acres for training, the Army used 12 acres as a Nike Missile maintenance area, and the United States Air Force built the Offutt Air Force Base Atlas Missile site on 2,000 acres. The Department of Commerce received 40 acres.
From 1959 to 1960, the Air Force built the "Atlas missile Area (AMA) site S-1 launch area" [sic] or shorter "Nike Area" on 1,185 acres north of bomb load line 4. The Air Force also used 34 acres of the northern bomb load line 1 as "Ballistic Missile Division Technical Area". In 1964, both were decommissioned and transferred to the Nebraska National Guard.
As of 2016, there are four contaminated groundwater plumes, each 2 to 3 miles long and 200 feet to half a mile wide.
Civilian, 1962-present
In 1962, the University of Nebraska - Lincoln bought about 9,600 acres, followed by 600 acres in 1964, to use it as a farm for agricultural research on crop, swine, dairy, and cattle, the Agricultural Research and Development Center. Private individuals and corporations bought the remainder 5,250 acres. Adjacent land is used primarily agricultural.
During the late 1970s and early '80s, the university buried hazardous waste low-level radioactive medical wastes and solvents in trenches and a landfill. Some areas were used to rinse pesticides off machinery.