The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection |
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Hawthorne Army Depot is a government-owned, contractor-operated military industrial installation. The resident contractor is Day and Zimmerman/Hawthorne Corporation. The government and Day and Zimmerman/Hawthorne Corporation employ approximately 700 personnel. See more photos of main base BACKGROUNDThe Hawthorne Navy Ammunition Depot (NAD) was established after an explosion destroyed the Lake Denmark, New Jersey ammunition plant in 1926. Hundreds of people were injured in nearby towns. A court of inquiry investigating the explosion recommended that a depot be established in a remote area within 1,000 miles of the west coast to serve the Pacific area. Construction began on NAD in July 1928, and NAD received its
Security for the 3,000 bunkers at NAD was provided by the U.S. Marine Corps. Beginning in September 1930 and during World War II, 600 Marines were assigned to the facility. In 1977, that number had been reduced to 117; security is contracted to a private company. The mission and functions at NAD have remained much the same over the facility's history. The mission, as stated in a 1962 Navy Command History, was to "receive, renovate, maintain, store and issue ammunition, explosives, expendable ordnance items and/or weapons and technical ordnance material and perform addition tasks as directed by the Bureau of Naval Weapons. It also served as an important ammunition center during the Korean War and the Vietnam conflict with several thousand structures on 236 square miles of land. In 1977, NAD was transferred to the Army, and renamed the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant (HWAAP). In 1980, HWAAP was redesignated as a government-owned contractor-operated facility. Day & Zimmermann Hawthorne Corporation (DZHC) is the current operating contractor. In 1994, the facility received its current name of the Hawthorne Army Depot (HWAD). The information presented on this website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. If you have any questions or comments about this website contact us at: Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Corrective Actions NDEP — Home Page NDEP — Site Map |