Former Nebraska Ordnance Plant
Mead, Nebraska

DESCRIPTION

The former Nebraska Ordnance Plant (NOP) site occupies approximately 17,250 acres located one-half mile south of Mead, Saunders County, Nebraska. During World War II and the Korean War, bombs, shells, and rockets were assembled at the site. The NOP included four bomb load lines, a Bomb Booster Assembly plant, an ammonium nitrate plant, two explosive burning areas, a proving range, a landfill, a wastewater treatment plant, analytical laboratories, and storage and administration facilities. Most of the raw materials used to manufacture the weapons were produced at other locations and shipped the NOP facility for assembly. Routine plant operations included washout of explosive materials prior to bomb loading and assembly, and bomb washing following assembly. Wash water was discharged to sumps and in open ditches.

During the 1950´s and early 1960´s, the US Air Force operated an Atlas Missile Launch facility. Construction and maintenance activities at the site resulted in the release of Trichloroethene (TCE), an industrial solvent, into the groundwater near Load Lines 1 and 4.

Because the former NOP is a large site with different types of contamination in different locations, investigation and cleanup activities were organized in categories called "operable units". Three operable units (OUs) were organized to help expedite investigation and cleanup activities. A Record of Decision (ROD) is developed for each operable unit. The ROD defines the method for clean up and the associated objectives.

 

OPERABLE UNIT 1 - SOILS

OU1, which includes soils contaminated with explosive compounds, was completed in 1999 with the excavation of soils and treatment through an on-site thermal treatment unit.

OPERABLE UNIT 2 - GROUNDWATER

OU2 consists of a groundwater extraction and treatment system that hydraulically contains 11 square miles of contaminated groundwater, preventing its further migration to the south and east.

In place at the site is a network of containment and focused extraction wells for remediation and groundwater wells for monitoring of site conditions. Extracted groundwater is treated and then properly discharged and, in some cases, made available for beneficial reuse.

OPERABLE UNIT 3 – MISCELLANEOUS SITES, ORDNANCE AND EXPLOSIVES

OU3 includes a former on-site landfill and former unidentified waste disposal areas not previously identified. Contaminants evaluated include metals, explosives, volatiles and semi-volatiles. The only chemical contamination requiring remediation is the heavy metal antimony, which was found in localized areas related to painting operations.

ORDNANCE AND EXPLOSIVES

Site activities also include a component for management of ordnance and explosives (OE). Long term management of OE will be under the future Record of Decision (ROD). OE sites include locations where off-specification ordnance components such as fuses and detonators were destroyed and disposed. A suspected disposal location near the former landfill for mustard agent identification kit(s) is also managed under this component of site management and remediation.

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* This information is published by the U.S. Army corps of Engineers as representative of the lead agency, the United States Army, at the former Nebraska  Ordnance Plant site in Mead, NE.  Comments or questions about this information should be directed to the Kansas City District Corps of Engineers, Public Affairs Officer, (816)-389-3486.  Information repositories for the site are being maintained at the Mead Public Library, 316 S. Vine Street, P.O. Box 203, Mead, NE 68041-0202.  The phone number is  (402) 624-6605.

For information on the Metropolitan Utilities District (M.U.D.) Platte West project permit status, see M.U.D. web page.