"Rosemount Land Used For WWII Gun Powder Plant Focus of Controversy"

University of Minnesota officials want the feds to share the burden of cleaning up a 3500-acre ammo plant on land owned by the university.



"Ruins, concrete slabs, and abandoned tunnels and towers that line a large portion of UMore Park may be a common sight for drivers in Rosemount — they've been there since the end of World War II.

But what lies beneath them has raised the contentious question of who is responsible for cleaning it up.

"There's a very long, extensive history about it," said Bill Donohue, general counsel for the University of Minnesota, which has owned the land since 1947. "We've always wanted to utilize that land, and utilize it in a responsible way."

For years, the university has been trying to get the federal government to take responsibility for cleaning up contaminants in the soil and groundwater from when it operated a World War II gunpowder plant in 1945."

Liala Helal reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune July 27, 2013.

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune, 07/30/2013