Aberdeen Proving Ground

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APG is the U.S. Army's oldest active proving ground, established on October 20, 1917, six months after the U.S. entered World War I.{{cite web |url=http://armyalliance.org/about-apg/history-of-apg/ |title=Army Alliance | Aberdeen Proving Ground | History of APG | Army Alliance | Aberdeen Proving Ground |access-date=April 3, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429091304/http://armyalliance.org/about-apg/history-of-apg/ |archive-date=April 29, 2017 }}{{Cite news |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/science/aberdeen-proving-ground-ORGOV000069-topic.html |title=Aberdeen Proving Ground |last=Sun |first=Baltimore |work=baltimoresun.com |access-date=May 3, 2017 |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527105150/http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/science/aberdeen-proving-ground-ORGOV000069-topic.html |archive-date=May 27, 2017 }} The planning and construction were overseen by Brigadier General Colden Ruggles, who later served as the Army's Chief of Ordnance.{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/3335*.html |title=Colden L'H Ruggles in Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volumes III-VIII |last=Thayer |first=Bill |website=Bill Thayer's Web Site |publisher=Bill Thayer |location=Chicago, IL |date=May 5, 2015 |access-date=August 8, 2020 |ref={{sfnRef|"Biographical Register"}} |archive-date=November 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130013251/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/3335%2A.html |url-status=live }} Its location allowed design and testing of ordnance materiel to take place near contemporary industrial and shipping centers. The proving ground was created as a successor to the Sandy Hook Proving Ground, which was too small for some of the larger weapons being tested. At the peak of World War II, APG had billeting space for 2,348 officers and 24,189 enlisted personnel.

A notable scientist was James B. Conant, who helped develop Lewisite at Aberdeen, went on to become the President of Harvard, and oversaw the Manhattan Project for OSRD.

Aberdeen was home to the Army Pulse Radiation Facility Reactor, in 1968. On September 6, 1968, this reactor was the site of a prompt critical excursion during commissioning tests. This accident harmed no personnel but did release enough heat to reach the melting point of the fuel in the core, 1150 °C. This caused damage to the fuel components of the reactor, fusing the four central rings together. This is one of thirty-three prompt critical accidents worldwide, between 1949 and 2000.[https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.csirc.net/docs/reports/la-13638.pdf A Review of Criticality Accidents], Los Alamos National Laboratory, LA-13638, May 2000. Thomas P. McLaughlin, Shean P. Monahan, Norman L. Pruvost, Vladimir V. Frolov, Boris G. Ryazanov, and Victor I. Sviridov.

Under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program, as announced in 2005, the APG is projected to lose the Ordnance School and associated R&D facilities with 3862 military and 290 civilian jobs moving to Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. APG will gain 451 military and 5,661 civilian jobs from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. As a result, the net change is a loss of 3,411 military jobs and a gain of 5,371 civilian jobs.

File:Chemical Warfare Service - Plants - Edgewood Arsenal - Panorama of Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland - NARA - 26424848 (cropped).jpg

Although civilian contractors produced the major portion of conventional munitions for World War I, the United States government built federally owned plants on Aberdeen Proving Ground for the manufacture of toxic gas. These poison gas manufacturing facilities came to be known as Edgewood Arsenal. Edgewood Arsenal included plants to manufacture mustard gas, chloropicrin and phosgene, and separate facilities to fill artillery shells with these chemicals. Production began in 1918, reached {{cvt|2756|ST|MT}} per month, and totaled {{cvt|10817|ST|MT}} of toxic gas manufactured at Edgewood Arsenal before the November 1918 armistice. Some of this gas was shipped overseas for use in French and British artillery shells.{{cite book |last=Ayres |first=Leonard P. |title=The War with Germany |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924027816820 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |edition=Second |date=1919 |location=Washington, DC |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924027816820/page/n84 79]&80 }}

The Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground is approximately {{convert|13000|acres}} or {{convert|20.31|sqmi}}. The Edgewood area was used for the development and testing of chemical agent munitions. From 1917 to the present, the Edgewood area conducted chemical research programs, manufactured chemical agents, and tested, stored, and disposed of toxic materials.

{{Main|Edgewood Arsenal human experiments}}

From 1955 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified medical studies at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel and to test protective clothing and pharmaceuticals. About 7,000 soldiers took part in these experiments that involved exposures to more than 250 different chemicals, according to the Department of Defense (DoD). Some of the volunteers exhibited symptoms at the time of exposure to these agents but long-term follow-up was not planned as part of the DoD studies.{{cite web |url=http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/edgewood-aberdeen/index.asp |title=Edgewood / Aberdeen Experiments |author= |date=April 1, 2013 |website=VA Public Health Military Exposures |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |access-date=October 1, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213028/http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/edgewood-aberdeen/index.asp |archive-date=October 4, 2013 }}

The agents tested included chemical warfare agents and other related agents:

• Anticholinesterase nerve agents (Agent VX, sarin, and common organophosphorus (OP) and carbamate pesticides)
• Mustard agent
• Nerve agent antidotes atropine and scopolamine
• Nerve agent reactivators (e.g., the common OP antidote 2-PAM chloride)
• Psychoactive agents (LSD, PCP, cannabinoids, and Agent BZ)
• Irritants and riot control agents
• Alcohol and caffeine

During the week of July 14, 1969, personnel from Naval Applied Science Laboratory in conjunction with personnel from Limited War Laboratory conducted a defoliation test along the shoreline of Poole's Island, Aberdeen Proving Ground using Agent Orange and Agent Orange Plus foam.{{Cite report |date=May 25, 2012 |title=Information from Department of Defense (DoD) on Herbicide Tests and Storage outside of Vietnam |url=http://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/agentorange/dod_herbicides_outside_vietnam.pdf |publisher=Department of Veterans Affairs |page=5 |access-date=December 2, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611133859/http://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/agentorange/dod_herbicides_outside_vietnam.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2014 }}

The Gunpowder Meetinghouse and Presbury Meetinghouse located within the grounds of Edgewood Arsenal are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{NRISref|version=2010a }}

{{see also|Edgewood Chemical Biological Center}}

Other parts of APG not attached to the main installation include the Churchville Test Area in Harford County, and the Carroll Island and Graces Quarters in Baltimore County, Maryland. The Churchville Test Area is a test track with hills that provide steep natural grades and tight turns to stress engines, drivetrains, and suspensions for army vehicles, including M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Humvees.

The eastern half of Carroll Island was used as a testing location for open air static testing of chemical weapons since the 1950s. During tests of chemical agents and other compounds at Carroll Island, Maryland, from July 1, 1964, to December 31, 1971, nearly {{convert|6.5|ST}} of chemicals were disseminated on the test area including {{convert|4600|lb}} of irritants, {{convert|655|lb}} of anticholinesterase compounds such as the nerve gasses Sarin and VX, and {{convert|263|lb}} of incapacitants such as LSD. Simulant agents, incendiaries, decontaminating compounds, signaling and screening smokes, mustard, and herbicides were also released as well as riot control gasses. The test sites consisted of spray grids, a wind tunnel, test grids, and small buildings.{{cite book |author=Richard Albright |title=Death of the Chesapeake: A History of the Military's Role in Polluting the Bay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGGPq10wa3YC&pg=PT82 |access-date=October 1, 2013 |date=May 29, 2013 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-75666-9 |pages=82– }}

Edgewood Chemical Activity is a chemical-weapons depot located at APG. Elimination of the chemicals held here was put on an accelerated schedule after the September 11, 2001, attacks, and all chemical weapons were destroyed by February 2006.

Fort Hoyle was established on October 7, 1922, and was created from a portion of the Edgewood Arsenal. Named for Brigadier General Eli D. Hoyle, who had commanded the 6th Field Artillery Regiment, the post was home to Headquarters, 1st Field Artillery Brigade (1922 to 1939), the 6th Field Artillery Regiment (1922 to 1940), the 1st Ammunition Train (1922 to 1930), and the 99th Field Artillery Regiment (minus 2nd Battalion) (1940 to 1941). Fort Hoyle was officially disestablished as a separate military post when it was reabsorbed by Edgewood Arsenal on September 10, 1940.{{cite book |last=Bates |first=Bill |date=2007 |title=Aberdeen Proving Ground |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8Avs89KcxIC&q=%22fort+hoyle%22&pg=PA62 |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |page=62 |isbn=978-0-7385-4436-6 |access-date=2020-11-23 |archive-date=2024-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729061737/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8Avs89KcxIC&q=%22fort+hoyle%22&pg=PA62#v=snippet&q=%22fort%20hoyle%22&f=false |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Joseph F. |last2=Stuempfle |first2=Arthur K. |last3=Stuempfle |first3=Amy L. |date=2012 |title=Edgewood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tp3IaVYwzaUC&q=%22fort+hoyle%22&pg=PA8 |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |page=8 |isbn=978-0-7385-9279-4 |access-date=2020-11-23 |archive-date=2024-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729062029/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tp3IaVYwzaUC&q=%22fort+hoyle%22&pg=PA8#v=snippet&q=%22fort%20hoyle%22&f=false |url-status=live }}

The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Museum previously located at APG, was moved to Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Act.

APG occupies a land area of {{convert|293|km2|sqmi}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=April 23, 2011 |date=February 12, 2011 |title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824085937/https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |url-status=live }}{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first=Dale H. |editor-last=Hoiberg |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Aberdeen |edition=15th |year=2010 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. |volume=I: A-ak Bayes |location=Chicago, Illinois |isbn=978-1-59339-837-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/28 28] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/28 }} Its northernmost point is near the mouth of the Susquehanna River, where the river enters the Chesapeake Bay, while on the south, it is bordered by the Gunpowder River. The installation lies on two peninsulas separated by the Bush River. The northeastern is known as the Aberdeen Area and the southwestern is called the Edgewood Area (formerly the Edgewood Arsenal).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of {{convert|12.0|sqmi|1}}, of which {{convert|11.4|sqmi|1}} is land and {{convert|0.6|sqmi}} (5.09%) is water.

{{US Census population

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html |title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date= |archive-date=2022-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706023553/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html |url-status=live }}
2010 2020

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| 2000 = 3116

| 2010 = 2093

| 2020 = 1668

}}For statistical purposes the base is delineated as a census-designated place (Aberdeen Proving Ground CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau. As of the 2020 census, the resident population was 1,668.{{Cite web |title=Aberdeen Proving Ground CDP, Maryland |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US2400175 |website=United States Census Bureau |access-date=March 13, 2022 |archive-date=April 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415235753/https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US2400175 |url-status=live }}

As of the census{{cite web |title=U.S. Census website |url=https://www.census.gov/ |access-date=January 31, 2008 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709054630/https://www.census.gov/ |url-status=live }} of 2000, there were 3,116 people, 805 households, and 763 families residing in the CDP. The population density was {{convert|274.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 902 housing units at an average density of {{convert|79.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the CDP was 50.5% White, 34.6% African American, 0.6% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 1.3% Pacific Islander, 5.7% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races; 11.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 40.1% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 44.9% from 25 to 44, 4.4% from 45 to 64, and 0.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,875, and the median income for a family was $40,306. Males had a median income of $26,943 versus $26,194 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $12,808. About 4.2% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

The Edgewood area of the Aberdeen Proving Ground site was proposed to the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites requiring long term remedial action on April 10, 1985. The site was formally added to the National Priorities List on February 21, 1990.

The Edgewood area has large areas of land and water and numerous buildings that are contaminated or suspected of contamination. Virtually all the land areas of the site contain contaminated or potentially contaminated sites and potentially buried ordnance. Substances disposed of in the area include significant quantities of napalm, white phosphorus, and chemical agents. On-site surface waters include rivers, streams, and wetlands.

Edgewood area standby water supply wells in the Canal Creek area previously served approximately 3,000 people. The wells have been abandoned. The Long Bar Harbor well field of the County Department of Public Works and the well field used by the Joppatowne Sanitary Subdistrict serve 35,000 people within {{convert|3|mi}} of the site. On-site groundwater sampling has identified perchlorate, various metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and chemical warfare agent degradation products. On-site soil contamination sampling has identified various VOCs, metals, and unexploded ordnance in surface and subsurface soil. On-site surface water sampling has identified various metals, pesticides, phosphorus, and VOCs. People who accidentally ingest or come in direct contact with contaminated groundwater, surface water, soil, or sediments may be at risk. The area is a designated habitat for bald eagles.{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/MD2210020036.htm |title=Aberdeen Proving Ground (Edgewood Area Site) Current Site Information |date=January 2013 |website=EPA Mid-Atlantic Superfund sites |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=October 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212951/http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/MD2210020036.htm |archive-date=October 4, 2013 }}

File:Chemical Warfare Service - Plants - Edgewood Arsenal and Others - Manufacturing gases at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. Chlorine and salt preparation buildings - DPLA - 1f197bba9d603abc25e77abcf44cbe2c (cropped).jpg

A scandal at the APG surfaced in 1996. The U.S. Army brought charges against twelve commissioned and non-commissioned male officers for sexual assault of female trainees under their command.{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9612/06/aberdeen.arraign/index.html |title=CNN - Three soldiers arraigned in U.S. Army sex scandal - Dec. 6, 1996 |website=edition.cnn.com |access-date=May 1, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501183322/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9612/06/aberdeen.arraign/index.html |archive-date=May 1, 2018 }}

Following campaigning by PETA, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and other organizations, the U.S. military announced in 2011 that it was replacing its use of monkeys in the Army's nerve-agent attack training courses with human simulators and other non-animal teaching methods. The training drills had been carried out on vervet monkeys and conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground.{{cite news |last1=Vastag |first1=Brian |title=Army to phase out use of animal nerve-agent testing |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/army-agrees-to-phase-out-use-of-animal-nerve-gas-testing/2011/10/13/gIQA1p1PiL_story.html |access-date=March 9, 2015 |agency=Washington Post |date=October 13, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403121238/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/army-agrees-to-phase-out-use-of-animal-nerve-gas-testing/2011/10/13/gIQA1p1PiL_story.html |archive-date=April 3, 2015 }}

A Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) broke free from its mooring station on APG October 28, 2015. It traveled for three hours through the skies, finally crashing in a wooded area in northeastern Pennsylvania.{{Cite web |last=Judson |first=Jen |date=October 30, 2015 |title=After Blimp Broke Free and Crashed, JLENS Program Hangs by a Thread |url=https://www.defensenews.com/home/2015/10/30/after-blimp-broke-free-and-crashed-jlens-program-hangs-by-a-thread/ |access-date=February 3, 2024 |website=Defense News |language=en |archive-date=July 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729062922/https://www.defensenews.com/home/2015/10/30/after-blimp-broke-free-and-crashed-jlens-program-hangs-by-a-thread/ |url-status=live }}

• ENIAC
• ORDVAC
• BRLESC
• Aberdeen scandal (1996)
• United States Army Research Laboratory
• Ballistic Research Laboratory
• Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
• Dugway Proving Ground
• United States Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center
• Herman Goldstine
• Edgewood Arsenal human experiments
• Poplar Island (Chesapeake Bay)
• Maryland World War II Army Airfields
• Nevada Test and Training Range
• Semipalatinsk Test Site

{{Reflist}}

• Oliveros, James P. and Don A. Vroblesky. (1989). Hydrogeology of the Canal Creek area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland [Water-Resources Investigations Report 89-4021 ]. Towson, Md.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• {{cite report |author1=Olsen, Lisa D. |author2=Tracey A. Spencer |id=Open-File Report 00-203 |year=2000 |title=Assessment of Volatile Organic Compounds in Surface Water at West Branch Canal Creek, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 1999 |website=U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Publications Warehouse |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2000/ofr00203/ |ref={{sfnref | U.S. Geological Survey Publications Warehouse}} |access-date=October 6, 2021}}
• United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services. (1997). Army sexual harassment incidents at Aberdeen Proving Ground and sexual harassment policies within the Department of Defense: hearing before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, first session, February 4, 1997. Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office.
• Information about [http://worldwidescience.org/topicpages/e/e3640+decommissioning+aberdeen.html Decommissioning Aberdeen] ([http://worldwidescience.org worldwidescience.org])

{{Commons category}}

• {{official website|http://www.apg.army.mil/}}
• {{osmrelation|6840727}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070118024420/http://www.ordmusfound.org/overview.html U.S. Army Ordnance Foundation]
• {{HAER |id=md0989 |survey=MD-74 |title=Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Harford County, MD |data=107}}
• {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.2569519|name=Big Picture: This is Aberdeen}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160113180959/https://www.commissaries.com/stores/html/store.cfm?dodaac=HQCNEJ Defense Commissary Agency]

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{{U.S. biological weapons}}

{{MDMilitary}}

{{Harford County, Maryland}}

{{US Proving Grounds}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:United States Army posts

Category:Military installations in Maryland

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Category:Military Superfund sites

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Category:1917 establishments in Maryland

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Category:Military installations established in 1917