Morgantown Ordnance Works

In the wake of Pearl Harbor and U.S. entry into World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt green-lit the secret "Manhattan Project" to develop atomic weapons and help tip the scales of war in the Allies' favor. Atomic weapons utilize the fission (the splitting of atoms) of radioactive materials such as plutonium to create chain reactions that release a tremendous amount of destructive energy. An important component to these weapons is a "moderator," which both slows down and improve the efficacy of the fission process. While the United States worked to produce the plutonium necessary for atomic bombs, they also needed to acquire moderating substances that would allow scientists to control these weapons. The United States identified one possible moderator in "heavy water, also known as deuterium oxide.

The P-9 Project, a part of the wider Manhattan Project, was designed to oversee the production of heavy water as a possible moderator. There was only one facility that produced heavy water in North America, at a Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company facility in Trail, British Columbia, Canada. Although the United States would lease this facility for heavy water production, the U.S. also selected three additional sites in the United States for heavy water production: the Alabama Ordnance Works, Wabash River Ordnance Works in Indiana, and the Morgantown Ordnance Works in West Virginia. These sites were selected because they included "steam generating facilities and other utilities; the availability of various services and personnel; and land already owned by the government."[5] Morgantown's proximity to rail lines, the Monongahela River, ample coal, and an educated community were also valuable attributes.

The Morgantown Ordnance Works actually predated American entry in World War II, as chemical firm E.I. du Point de Nemours and Company began construction of the facility in November 1940. Sitting across the Monongahela River from Morgantown proper, the works initially produced ammonia for use in explosives. The site produced over 18,000 tons of ammonia monthly, as well as alcohol, hexamine, and formaldehyde.

The site's selection for inclusion in the P-9 Project required the construction of additional facilities, which began on January 7, 1943 and was completed by December 31 of the same year. Over $3.4 million was spent upgrading the works, which included new facilities for distillation, finishing, laboratories, boilers, a cooling tower, and more. Operation of the heavy water facilities phased online throughout the year. The final complex was over 800 acres in size, and nearly 1,400 people worked at the facility, making the Ordnance Works a significant source of employment in the local community.

Unique to the Morgantown Ordnance Works was its Electrolytic Finishing Plant, which purified the heavy water to 99.75 purity and made it suitable for us. Thus, both the Alabama and Wabash Ordnance Works sent their water to Morgantown via rail for electrolysis. Once produced, the heavy water was shipped from Morgantown to the Manhattan Project's laboratories at the University of Chicago. Although the three ordnance works produced enough heavy water for U.S. military purposes, heavy water was not the moderator ultimately used to help control the fission chain reaction (graphite was used instead).

On July 16, 1945, the atomic test weapon "Trinity" was successfully detonated in the New Mexico desert. With an effective weapon on hand, President Harry Truman (who only learned of the Manhattan Project's existence in April) made the controversial decision to use atomic weapons against Japan. On August 6, 1945, "Little Boy" struck the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and on August 9, "Fat Man" hit Nagasaki. The two bombs resulted in the immediate death of 180,000 Japanese, with many more who would die of wounds and radiation poisoning over the years. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945.

The Morgantown Ordnance Works closed its doors on the same month that the atomic weapons it helped produce were utilized. Various companies have utilized parts of the facility over the years, and the site is now part of the Morgantown Industrial Park. The Environment Protection Agency listed the works as a Superfund site and helped cleanup the facilities and dispose of chemicals; the site war removed from the Superfund list in 2018.

Today most of the original facilities are gone, although a few notable landmarks (such as the Ordnance Works smokestacks) remain. These remaining landmarks may be demolished soon, and the Monongalia County History Landmarks Commission (HLC) is considering possible options for documentation and interpretation of the site. As HLC member Paula McClain has noted, "It’s one of the only structures in town that tie us to a nationally significant historic event."[6]

1. Nicholas Novine. "Morgantown Ordnance Works Panoramas, 1940-1942." March 5, 2018. Pieces of History. Web. Accessed September 8, 2020. https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2018/03/05/morgantown-ordnance-works-panoramas-1940-1942/

2. "Morgantown, WV." Atomic Heritage Foundation. Web. Accessed September 8, 2020. https://www.atomicheritage.org/location/morgantown-wv-0

3. Tracy Eddy. "Industry's History: Industrial Park's First Site Built in '40s." August 22, 2011. [Morgantown] Dominion Post. Web. Accessed September 8, 2020. http://www.uppermon.org/news/dominion%20post/DP-MIP-22Aug11.html

4. Jim Bissett. "EPA completes Morgantown's Ordnance Works Superfund site remediation." August 24, 2018. WAJR. Web. Accessed September 8, 2020. https://wajr.com/epa-completes-morgantowns-ordnance-works-superfund-site-remediation/

5. "The P-9 Project." 1947. United States Department of Energy. Web. Accessed September 9, 2020. https://www.osti.gov/includes/opennet/includes/MED_scans/Book%20III%20-%20The%20P-9%20Project.pdf

6. Pam Kasey. "Goodbye, Smokestacks?" June 30, 2020. Morgantown Magazine. Web. Accessed September 9, 2020. https://morgantownmag.com/goodbye-smokestacks/

7. Pam Kasey. "Backup for the Bomb." June/July, 2015. Morgantown Magazine. Web. Accessed September 9, 2020. https://morgantownmag.com/backup-for-the-bomb/

8. Kathryn M. Kuranda et. al. "Historic Context for Department of Defense Facilities World War II Permanent Construction." May 1997. R. Chirstopher Goodwin and Associates for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Web. Accessed September 9, 2020. https://aec.army.mil/application/files/4914/9504/6078/ww2_pc.pdf

9. Vincent C. Jones. Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb. Washington, D.C.: Center for Military History, Washington, D.C., 1985. Digitized. https://history.army.mil/html/books/011/11-10/CMH_Pub_11-10.pdf

10. Terrence R. Fehner and F.G. Gosling. The Manhattan Project. U.S. Department of Energy. April 2012. Web. Accessed September 10, 2020. https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/The%20Manhattan%20Project.pdf

11. Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett. A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2000.