Recordpub.com - Arsenal to raze wartime buildings No plans to burn structures

By Mike Sever

Record-Courier staff writer

The last buildings that supplied hundreds of thousands of artillery shells and other munitions for American armed forces in World War II are coming down.

The U.S. Army has contracted to take down 110 buildings at three load lines at the former Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant east of Ravenna during the next two years.

"None (left), that's it," said Irv Venger, acting facility manager. "We will have some foundations to take out in due course, but the buildings are done."

There are no plans to burn any of the buildings. That was a concern of local residents who feared burning would release toxic chemicals into the air.

Demolition work is expected to begin in January and be completed by November 2008.

Cleanup of the 21,419-acre facility is under the control of the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command. TACOM has contracted with MKM Engineers, Inc. of Stafford, Texas to decontaminate, disassemble and dispose of the buildings.

The contract includes: 43 process buildings at Load Line 2; 37 process buildings at Load Line 3 and 30 process buildings at Load Line 4.

"These are the big load lines. Most of (the buildings) are good-size," Venger said.

Contaminated rubble is taken to special landfills and steel is recycled. What isn't contaminated will remain on site for use by the Ohio Army National Guard, which leases the property for troop training.

"We're doing everything we can to grind up the rubble and leave it here for the national guard to use" for tracked vehicle trails, Venger said.

Once the buildings are gone, the Army's environmental center will take over the cleanup, Venger said.

"We still have some areas of concern and contamination in the ground. That has to be monitored long term," Venger said. The long-term monitoring includes test wells to keep an eye on the quality of groundwater.

The ammunition facility was built in just 14 months, opening in August 1941. It straddles four townships in Portage: Charlestown, Freedom, Paris and Windham; and Braceville and Newton townships in Trumbull County. It supported World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.