| Abstract |
Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant (SFAAP) is a government-owned, contractor-operated installation that began operation in 1942. It is located near the small town of DeSoto, Kansas, in Johnson County. The plant occupies approximately 9,065 acres in the shape of a north-south rectangle about 6 miles long by 3 miles wide. The plant's primary mission was to manufacture smokeless gunpowder and munition propellants for World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam Conflict. Three explosives compounds (nitroglycerine, nitrocellulose, and nitroguanidine), as well as sulfuric and nitric acids, were manufactured. Munitions testing was also conducted at the site. Since 1992, SFAAP has been in inactive status. The major activities have been maintenance, environmental stabilization, and remediation. In early 1998, the U.S. Department of the Army (Army) declared that it no longer needed SFAAP and is in the process of selling the site. |
