The Savanna Army Depot Activity (SVDA) site is a 13,062-acre installation. It is located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River in Carroll and Jo Daviess counties, seven miles north of Savanna, in Illinois. Between 1917 and 1995, the U.S. Army used the property for artillery weapons and ammunition testing, as well as the storage of ordnance and the loading and renovating of shells and bombs. The Army used several areas for demolition, burning of obsolete ordnance and waste disposal. Facility operations contaminated soils, groundwater, surface water and sediment with hazardous chemicals. Site cleanup is ongoing. Some areas are now part of the Upper Mississippi Valley National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.