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One of the mysteries of the Mothman incidents in
1966 through 1968 was the location know as the TNT
Plant or Ordnance Works. The plant consisted
of a factory, and countless numbers of underground
facilities, still poorly know today.
Main sewers and area map [PDF] |
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Aerial View |
See as PDF |
TNT & BG Aerial View |
RW Area - Shows toxic retention ponds |
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During
WWII it was speed over environmental
quality! |
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One of the "igloos" where the TNT
was stored at the West Virginia
Ordnance Plant near Point Pleasant. |
Entrance to Point Pleasant
underground structure. |
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Air hole to Point Pleasant
underground structure in the TNT
plant area. |
Deserted structure in TNT area |
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The TNT area remains a complex maze
of above ground structures, and
underground bunkers and tunnels |
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One of
the TNT Bunkers |
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The TNT Area & The Point Pleasant Depot
Point
Pleasant Depot
2601 Madison Avenue
Point Pleasant, WV 25550-1603
The Defense
National Stockpile is managed by the
U.S. Department of Defense, with
day-to-day operations being guided by
the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). In
1998, the DLA sold 12,183 tons of pig
tin from the stockpile. Of this total,
10,313 tons represented long-term sales
contracts to RMT Corp. and Considar,
Inc. (both of New York, NY). The DLA
continued its monthly spot tin sales
program under the same format as in
recent years, with sales being held on
the first Wednesday. The following
depots held the largest inventories of
tin, in descending order: Hammond, IN;
Anniston, AL; Point Pleasant, WV; and
Baton Rouge, LA. At 1998 yearend, 83,607
tons of tin remained in the NDS. The
Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) 1999 tin
sales program emphasized its long-term
activity and had only a modest spot
sales effort. DLA allocated 2,000 tons
of tin to sell on the spot market at
monthly sales. Two long-term sales were
again conducted, one in the spring,
another in the fall. DLA announced that
its Annual Materials Plan for fiscal
year 1999 called for sales of up to
12,000 tons of stockpile tin. Stockpile
tin is warehoused at six depots, with
the largest holdings at Hammond, IN, and
Baton Rouge, LA. The Stockton, CA, depot
was closed.
The former West Virginia Ordnance Works
(WVOW) was an explosives manufacturing
facility constructed for the sole
purpose of producing 720,000 tons of TNT
per day. It was constructed on 8,323
acres. The site is located on the east
bank of the Ohio River, along State
Route 62, 6 miles north of Point
Pleasant, West Virginia. From 1942 to
1945, the e West Virginia Ordnance Works
(WVOW) manufactured explosives for use
in munitions and explosives for the war
effort. Although owned by DoD, WVOW was
operated by a private company to produce
TNT. When it closed in 1945, WVOW was
declared surplus, and the structures
were salvaged or disposed. The former
West Virginia Ordnance Works is on the
National Priorities List and work is
being done there by the Huntington
District of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
The former WVOW consisted of TNT
manufacturing facilities, associated
acid storage and concentrating
facilities, administration and housing
areas, repair shops, two well water
fields, an Ohio River dock site, power
plants, magazine area and rail yards.
The TNT was stored in concrete bunkers,
or igloos, built above the ground. They
are dome-shaped concrete structures,
covered with a foot or more of earth and
spaced in a grid pattern to reduce the
chances of all igloos being destroyed in
a chain reaction.
Construction of the plant began in March
of 1942, on a war-time footing,
utilizing expensive shortcut methods.
All construction was supervised by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington
District. WVOW was completed in
September 1943. On 15 August 1945, WVOW
was ordered to cease production, as were
all ammunition plants, and on 4 December
1945 it was declared surplus to the
needs of the War Department and
custodial functions were transferred to
the Corps of Engineers. On 16 April
1946, WVOW was declared surplus to
government needs, with accountability
turned over to the War Assets
Administration for disposal on 2 October
1946. By November of 1949 all of the
plumbing and process equipment
associated with the TNT manufacturing
area had been removed except for the
contaminated sewer lines running to the
Red and Yellow Water Lines. The Burning
Grounds Area and Red and Yellow Water
Reservoirs were fenced off and posted.
The sewers were blocked off and
abandoned in place, as they were not
considered a hazard. The Magazine Area
became the site of sporadic explosives
operations after this area was sold to
private parties. Since the ammunition
magazines remained intact, they proved
useful warehouses for explosives in the
possession of private citizens and
businesses. Also, there is some evidence
that small scale TNT re-melt operations
were conducted by private explosives
manufacturing concerns during the 1960s.
After a history of numerous sales and
repurchases by the Federal Government,
the distribution of ownership of former
WVOW is as follows: 171.944 acres held
by the Department of the Army (including
7 acres utilized by the National Guard);
2,451.19 acres owned by the Conservation
Commission of West Virginia; the
remaining 5,699.976 acres being held by
home owners, farmers, light industries,
a coal company, real estate speculators,
utility companies, cemetery trustees,
Mason County (including an airport on
Parcel 91), West Virginia Board of
Education and various small businesses
Environmental efforts at the West
Virginia Ordnance Works present a
typical profile of a Formerly Used
Defense Site (FUDS) property.
Manufacturing activities at WVOW during
World War II resulted in soil, surface
water, and groundwater contamination.
Residual contamination from WW II-era
manufacturing did not become apparent
until 1979, when personnel managing the
wildlife station observed red water
seeps near the site of a former
retention pond. Studies beginning in
1979 confirmed the extent of
contamination with TNT-related residues.
Fishermen saw red liquid bubbling to the
surface back in the 1980's. Future
testing found the red goo to be a
toluene compound, which later lead to
the site being given "Top 10 Superfund
Cleanup" status and tagged one of the
most polluted sites in the US.
Three new ponds providing more than 30
acres of aquatic habitat are finished at
McClinitic Wildlife Management Area.
Located five miles north of Point
Pleasant, W.Va. McClinitic contains the
greatest variety of wildlife habitats to
be found on any of the state's wildlife
management areas. Approximately 600
acres farmland, 900 acres brushland, 160
acres wetland and 1,100 acres mixed
hardwood forest combine to provide
excellent hunting for deer, waterfowl,
turkey, squirrel, rabbit, grouse,
mourning dove and woodcock. Warm water
fishing is allowed in 35 of the 39
ponds, with bass and bluegill anglers
enjoying the greatest success. Channel
catfish and northern pike are stocked in
several of the lakes.
The ponds mitigate the loss of
approximately 13 acres of aquatic
habitat at Pond 16 resulting from
remediation efforts of the former West
Virginia Ordnance Works. An active
partnering environment with the West
Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection and West Virginia Department
of Natural Resources and the owners and
land managers provided the necessary
ingredients to ensure that the design of
the site was in the best interest of the
intended wildlife habitat. Pond 16 has
been returned to its original state and
Ponds 7 and 11 were added. The new ponds
range from shallow depths to seven feet.
The ponds are designed as multiple use
areas for the sustainment of fish and
waterfowl. Department of Natural
Resources will stock fingerlings of
bass, catfish, and bluegill. Waterfowl
will migrate to the area as soon as
water is maintained in ponds. Sportsmen
can reach the site off a paved country
road with off-road parking in a gravel
lot. Source:
GlobalSecurity.org
During World War II
Less than six months after sod was broken
for the $55,000,000 West Virginia Ordnance
Works, a flag was raised yesterday,
signaling the start of production at the
plant which sprawls over 9,000 acres of Ohio
Valley bottomland.
The commanding officer, Colonel A. W.
Ford, speaking at a brief semi-public
ceremony, described the flag ceremony as
being symbolic of the union of the battle of
production and the fight on world fronts.
"This area has been transformed in a few
brief months from agricultural industry into
chemical industry, and is now an important
part of America's great production front,"
he said.
A word of praise for the workmen, some
1,000 of whom witnessed the ceremony, came
from Lieutenant Carroll Shanks of the U. S.
Engineers, who said that with less manpower
than had been used in any similar plant thus
far built, "the job went forward with no
great delays."
R. E. McCurdy, resident manager for the
construction contractor, the E. B. Badger &
Sons Co. of Boston, said that "all workers,
regardless of affiliations among the several
companies engaged in the construction, have
felt as though they were fellow employees
working for one boss - the United State[s]
Government."
The flag was one taken from the coffin of
a Point Pleasant soldier killed in action
last Summer and now buried in Arlington
National Cemetery - Private Clifford M.
Quessenberry. It was donated by his mother,
Mrs. V. E. Quessenberry, herself an employee
at the plant.
- 30 -
Production of TNT has ceased at the huge
$45 (M) West Virginia Ordnance Works,
operated by General Chemical Defense Corp.
Major J. D. Fraser, Commanding Officer said
today. Immediate stoppage is in accordance
with directive of the War Department, he
said.
Employees are to report for the regular
shift Friday after the two-day holiday, in
order to take care of plant clean-up and
storage of raw materials.
Construction was begun on the plant in
January, 1942. Production started in
September of that year. Peak employment was
reached in 1942, when an estimated 3500
persons were engaged in producing
ammunition.
Several months will probably be required
to complete the task of closing down such a
large production plant, and employment will
taper off as the work is completed, Major
Fraser said.
Dewey A. Windsor, president of the
Marietta Mfg. Co., said today that the local
shipyards will resume operation Friday
morning, where a tug-boat construction
contract is being completed for the
government.
"Altho official word of Japan's surrender
came through early last night, the facts
regarding the country's observance of
Wednesday and Thursday as holidays came too
late to change our plans to work until early
this morning," he said. Work will be resumed
with the day shift on Friday.
Within an hour and a half after news of
Japan's surrender was received the Sylvania
Electrical Products Co. of Huntington, which
has a feeder plant in Point Pleasant
employing an estimated 300 girls, suspended
operations.
Notice to the employees to the effect
they no longer have employment, is being
published here today. The Huntington plant
and the subsidiary is government-owned.
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EPA Sealing The Ground At WVOW
The USEPA
engages in a massive toxic program at the
West Virginia Ordnance Works.
EPA UV Photo of
TNT Area One of the
more interesting aspects of this project was
the discovery of underground chambers and
tunnels, some of which had subsided.
As a part of this project, the EPA decided
to physically seal the ground from above and
into the ground, using unbreakable wire-mesh
fabric to keep out or in "moles".
US Army Corps Of Engineers West Virginia
Ordnance Words Documents
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