The Kansas Army Ammunition Plant (Kansas AAP) was a government-owned, contractor-operated (

GOCO Go-op (full name Go-op Cooperative Ltd,) is an open access train operating company which is currently proposing to operate a service between Taunton and Swindon, via Westbury. It aims to become the first cooperatively owned train operating c ...

) facility, established in 1942, located near

Parsons, Kansas Parsons is a city in Labette County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,600. It is the most populous city of Labette County, and the second-most populous city in the southeastern region of Kansas. ...

. The plant produced ammunition during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The plant was deactivated on March 4, 2009 as part of the

Base Realignment and Closure, 2005 The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission preliminary list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It was the fifth Base Realignment and Closure ("BRAC") proposal generated since the process was created in ...

. The plant is currently owned and operated b
Day and Zimmerman, Inc.
and primarily produces mortar ammunition.

Production

While in operation, the Kansas AAP produced a variety of ammunition, from basic artillery and mortar shells to sophisticated air dropped munitions with advanced guidance and control systems. Some examples of munitions produced include the Sensor Fuzed Weapon for the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, M720 and M768 60 mm mortar shells for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and the M795 155 mm projectile for the U.S. Marine Corps. On July 26, 1989, a BLU-97 cluster bomb being manufactured in Building 1113 killed two employees.

Environmental impact

The

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

(EPA) inspected the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant to determine if the site needed to be cleaned up via

RCRA The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, is the principal federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste.United States. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. , , ''et seq., ...

CERCLA Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency ...

. On September 30, 2003 the EPA found that the contamination at the site was under control.

References

External links

GlobalSecurity.org - Kansas Ammunition Plant
* {{coord, 37, 17, 07, N, 95, 10, 44, W, display=title United States Army arsenals Buildings and structures in Labette County, Kansas Military facilities in Kansas United States Army arsenals during World War II Historic American Engineering Record in Kansas 1942 establishments in Kansas 2009 disestablishments in Kansas