Nitro is a city in Kanawha and Putnam counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia.

[4] The Nitro area was to be the American ammunition production facility during World War I. Daniel C. Jackling "supervised the construction and operation" of the plant, which by the time of the armistice "was producing one hundred thousand pounds of high explosives per day.

"[5] Its name was selected by the United States government because of the establishment there, during World War I, of a large federal plant for the manufacture of explosives.

Local authorities then sought various chemical companies to occupy the facility which had excellent infrastructure in utilities, transportation and new housing for workers.

It was hoped that the former gunpowder complex would become a major chemical manufacturing center, especially for the emerging dye industry in the U.S. that relied on coal and coke by-products as feedstock.

The Kanawha River and water in the adjacent alluvium have been adversely affected by industrial activities (Messinger, 1997).

When explosives manufacturing processes ceased, the facility was purchased and used for a variety of industries.

[12] RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under the direction of EPA Region 3 and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

However, the recent shift away from manufacturing in the region has significantly reduced air pollution issues.

In February 2012, Monsanto agreed to settle a case covering dioxin contamination around a plant in Nitro that had made Agent Orange.

The FDA said that the equipment in the lab was state-of-the-art and had been bought by former West Virginia state legislator Mark Hunt.

[18] For over 50 years, the Monsanto plant in Nitro, West Virginia, created dioxin waste while producing herbicides, Agent Orange (during the Vietnam War), and different forms of rubber.

Recent and past literature has established a link between the Monsanto plant and increased cancer cases within the region.

Although evidence seems to support the occurrence of clustering within the Nitro and Saint Albans areas, further epidemiological and spatial studies are required.