6MI S OF ELWOOD OFF RTE 53
The Joliet Army Ammunition Plant (JOAAP) Manufacturing (MFG) Area located in Will County, Illinois, covers 14 square miles of an inactive Army munitions facility. The site, which is adjacent to the Load-Assembly-Package (LAP) Area [another National Priorities List (NPL) site], is 10 miles south of Joliet, Illinois. Together the two sites constitute the JOAAP NPL Facility. From the early 1940s through 1977 more than 4 billion pounds of explosives, primarily trinitrotoluene (TNT) and tetryl, were made in the MFG Area. The production facilities were located in the northern half of the MFG Area. The southern half of the MFG Area was occupied by extensive explosives storage facilities. The MFG Area included: the explosives manufacturing lines; the TNT ditch complex, where process wash and waste waters were discharged or transported for treatment; the Red Water Area consisting of storage tanks, incinerators, evaporators, and a lined lagoon; incinerator ash piles; landfills; the Flashing Grounds, used for flash burning material to remove explosive residues; an area formerly used for the production of lead azide. Approximately 1,200 people live within three miles of the site. The nearest residence is less than one mile away, and there are water supply wells in use within a one-mile radius of the site. The surrounding area is primarily used for agriculture, and a substantial amount of farming and grazing is carried out on uncontaminated portions of the installation. Site Responsibility This site is being addressed through federal actions. The U.S. Army has the lead responsibility at the site.
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