St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant

The St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant is a former Army ordnance facility located on Goodfellow Boulevard in western St. Louis, Missouri. It originated as part of the much larger St. Louis Ordnance Plant (SLOP), a complex of roughly 327 acres that began producing small arms ammunition in 1941 during World War II. A portion of the complex was converted to 105 mm howitzer shell production in 1944, and the facility supported ammunition manufacturing again during the Korean and Vietnam War eras. Production wound down in the decades that followed, and many of the buildings were left vacant or demolished. The site has since been broken into multiple parcels, with Fort Leonard Wood retaining ownership of approximately 22 acres of heavily contaminated soils and structures in the former mixing house area, while other parcels passed into private hands as a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS).

Because the property was used for decades of explosives handling, ammunition manufacturing, and related industrial activity, preliminary environmental assessments have identified several contaminants of concern in buildings, structures, and soils across the former plant.

1. Explosive residues: Energetic materials and explosive residues are associated with the blending, manufacturing, and testing of ammunition and primary explosives. At the former plant, assessments identified such residues in a number of buildings. Exposure to explosive compounds at elevated levels has been associated in scientific literature with potential health effects, though individual exposure varies widely with site conditions.
2. Heavy metals: Metals such as arsenic, lead, and thallium were tied to ammunition production and the materials used on site. Soils contaminated with these metals were among the materials removed during cleanup work. Long term exposure to certain heavy metals has been associated with a range of health concerns, which is why monitoring and remediation have been a focus at the site.
3. PCBs: PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are man-made chemicals once widely used in oils, electrical equipment, and industrial fluids. At the St. Louis plant, PCBs were present as a constituent of oils used during operations, and PCB-impacted soils were addressed during demolition and removal activities. PCBs have been associated with concerns about potential long term health effects, and they have been classified by some agencies as probable human carcinogens.
4. Solvents: Industrial solvents were used in cleaning, degreasing, and manufacturing processes common to ordnance facilities of this era. Solvent and related releases have been a recurring concern at the property, and soil mixing was carried out at the northern end of the site to reduce tetrachloroethylene concentrations in groundwater.

The St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant is not listed on the National Priorities List (Superfund). Environmental work has instead been carried out under Department of Defense restoration programs, including the Formerly Used Defense Sites program and Army cleanup efforts, with oversight involving the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Between 2004 and 2007, buildings and bunkers were demolished and roughly 324 tons of soil contaminated with arsenic, lead, thallium, and PCBs were removed, with the federal government reporting that several million dollars had been spent on environmental cleanup of the property.

Veterans and civilian workers who served or worked at this installation may wish to stay informed as cleanup records and assessments continue to develop. Those with questions about possible exposure and related benefits are encouraged to speak with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which can provide guidance based on individual service history and current policy.