Rocky Mountain Arsenal 3.82

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal was a United States chemical weapons manufacturing center located in the Denver Metropolitan Area in Commerce City, Colorado. The site was completed December 1942, operated by the United States Army throughout the later 20th century and was controversial among local residents until its closure in 1992.Much of the site is now protected as the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.Site selectionThe Arsenal's location was selected due to its relative distance from the coasts, a sufficient labor force to work at the site, weather that was conducive to outdoor work, and the appropriate soil needed for the project. It was also helpful that the location was close to Stapleton airfield, a major transportation hub.In 1942, the US Army acquired 19,915 acres of land on which to manufacture weapons in support of World War II military activities at a cost of $62,415,000. Additionally, some of this land was used for a prisoner of war camp and later transferred to the city of Denver as Stapleton Airport expanded. A lateral was built off the High Line Canal to supply water to the Arsenal.