Lake City Army Ammunition Plant facts for kids
Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) is a 3,935-acre (15.92 km2) U.S. government-owned, contractor-operated facility in northeastern Independence, Missouri, that was established by Remington Arms in 1941 to manufacture and test small caliber ammunition for the U.S. Army. The facility has remained in continuous operation except for one 5-year period following World War II. As of July 2007, the plant produced nearly 1.4 billion rounds of ammunition per year. In addition, Lake City performs small caliber ammunition stockpile reliability testing and has ammunition and weapon testing responsibilities as the NATO National and Regional Test Center. LCAAP is the single largest producer of small arms ammunition for the United States Armed Forces.
Remington Arms operated the plant from its inception until 1985, when operations were taken over by the Olin Corporation. From April 2001, it was operated by Alliant Techsystems (ATK), later known as Orbital ATK after a 2015 merger between Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alliant Techsystems. Orbital ATK was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2018 and is now known as Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. Starting in October 2020, Winchester Ammunition was selected by the US Army to operate and manage the Lake City Plant.
The facility is part of the US Army Joint Munitions Command.
Capabilities
Capabilities of the plant include: Small arms cartridges; components such as percussion and electric primer; pyrotechnics; small caliber ammunition (5.56 mm; 7.62 mm; .50 caliber and 20 mm); performs reliability testing of small caliber ammunition (5.56 mm; 7.62 mm; 9 mm, .22 caliber; .45 caliber and .50 caliber); demilitarization and disposal of small caliber ammunition and explosives.
History
LCAAP was established in December 1940 as the Lake City Arsenal, with production beginning in 1941. It was the first of 12 small arms plants run by the Army.
Facilities
LCAAP is housed on 3,935 acres (15.92 km2) with 458 buildings, 40 igloos and storage capacity of 707,000 square feet (65,700 m2).
Hazardous waste contamination
Historically, LCAAP waste treatment and disposal occurred on-site and relied on unlined lagoons, landfills, and burn pits. The plant generated large quantities of potentially hazardous wastes and hazardous substances, including solvents, oils, greases, explosives, radionuclides, perchlorates, and heavy metals. As a result of the extensive contamination, the site has been named to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List.
- Information compiled from http://www.jmc.army.mil/FactSheets/FactSheets%202008/Lake%20City%20Army%20Ammunition%20Plant.pdf
- . Details LCAAP production.
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "Joint Munitions Command".