More than 1,500 gallons of chemicals leaked after flooding in Virginia — Defense News
At the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Radford, Virginia, United States, more than 1,500 gallons of substances leaked into the environment after flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024. Floodwaters from the New River damaged storage facilities and swept away more than a dozen containers of chemicals. Two years after the flood, three containers had still not been found, Defense News reports, citing the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
Chemical containers
The containers held, among other substances, dibutyl phthalate, a component of rocket fuel that is associated with reproductive health risks and cancer. The flood also washed away hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel and more than 100,000 pounds of wastewater contaminated with calcium sulfate. The military informed residents about the incident only several weeks after the flood.
Officials later said they assumed the containers would settle on the riverbed and that any potential leaks would be diluted by the water. At least one container was carried onto an adjacent property, where it was partially emptied. According to Virginia regulators, the plant was also cited in 2024 for excessive discharges of pollutants into the New River; a similar penalty was imposed in 2023. In 2022, state regulators called the facility the largest source of toxic emissions in Virginia.
Production and violations
Radford Army Ammunition Plant is the only producer in the United States of certain types of propellants used for artillery and missiles. The Pentagon seeks to replenish ammunition stockpiles and increase weapons production, relying in part on a network of old Army plants.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency records show that all Army facilities involved in the production, testing, or storage of weapons components have been cited by the EPA or state regulators for failing to comply with environmental requirements over the past five years. The EPA designated four of them as facilities in significant noncompliance, meaning serious or chronic violations of environmental law.
Justine Barati, a representative of U.S. Army Sustainment Command, said the Army would not sacrifice the safety of workers and neighboring communities for production targets. She also reported on an $18 billion modernization program for such facilities, which is planned for completion by 2038.
At Crane Army Ammunition Activity in Indiana, nearly 115,000 pounds of red phosphorus contained in mortar munitions stored outdoors in wooden crates under a tarp caught fire in July 2022. The fire lasted 15 hours. An investigation partially or fully substantiated five of eight allegations by former safety chief Rick Ward regarding violations at the facility, while the U.S. Army denied retaliating against him for his complaints.
