Newport Chemical Depot

It is located near Newport, in west central Indiana, thirty-two miles north of Terre Haute.

[not verified in body] Newport was founded during World War II to produce the military high explosive RDX.

[3] Given the immediate need for RDX, the plant was designed to employ the older Woolwich method for manufacturing the explosive.

As a result, the plant manufactured lower amounts of RDX compared to the Holston Ordnance Works, which used the more updated Bachmann process.

[6] Beginning in 1961, Newport became a site for chemical weapons manufacturing, producing the entire U.S. stockpile of VX nerve agent at the time.

[verification needed] Destruction was performed on behalf of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency by Parsons Infrastructure & Technology, Inc. and more than 500 civilian employees worked at the facility.

Waste was eventually shipped to Port Arthur, Texas where it was processed and incinerated by the company Veolia Environmental Services.

NeCDRA and its consultant team worked with the local community to create a plan and implementation strategy for the conversion of the depot to civilian use.

[16] NECD's closure led to the loss of over 675 jobs and rural Vermillion County's largest employer.

[15] NeCDRA sought a civilian reuse plan that would replace lost jobs, maintain environmental quality, and be economically viable and obtained partnerships with Duke Energy and Garmong Construction.

As of October 2020, the park hosted six companies and 130 jobs in addition to leasing land for agricultural purposes, supporting related industries.