Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant

Improper disposal of contaminated wastewater and other plant operations put explosives, among them TNT, RDX and HMX, into the soil and groundwater, and the contamination moved beyond the property line. The 12,042-acre site was proposed for the federal Superfund list in October 1984 and listed in July 1987. On May 18, 2026, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers finalized a new groundwater plan: native bacteria, fed carbon sources such as vegetable oil and corn steep, replace the extraction and treatment system, aiming at water fit for unrestricted use.

What the plaque says

Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant Commonly known as the Cornhusker Ordnance Plant, the facility opened in 1942 and covered nearly 20 square miles. During World War II it produced artillery shells and various bombs weighing up to 2,000 pounds apiece. An explosion on May 26, 1945, killed nine people, leveled a building, and was felt in nearby towns of Cairo and Wood River. The cause was unknown. The plant ceased operations the day after Japan's surrender, but was reactivated during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Hall County Historical Society Wood River Centennial Community Foundation Nebraska State Historical Society, 2019

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer — 7.8 mi
  Edward Durell Stone's island pavilion in Grand Island and an 1890s railroad town of moved buildings, among them the cottage where Henry Fonda was born in 1905.
• Rowe Sanctuary — 26 mi
  Audubon's sanctuary on the Platte near Gibbon, where the river's sandbars are kept bare so that sandhill cranes, more than a million in the valley each spring, can roost safely at night.

More markers nearby

• B-17 Crash, 1943 — 6.1 mi
• Tornado Hill — 7.4 mi
• The Mormon Trail — 7.7 mi
• Grand Island Veterans Home — 8.0 mi