Written by Victory’s Shadow: The Toxic Legacy of the Scioto Ordnance Plant Establishment and Displacement
In 1942, the urgency of World War II arrived in Marion County, Ohio, not with a battle, but with an eviction notice. The U.S. Army seized more than 12,500 acres across Grand Prairie, Scott, Claridon, and Marion townships to construct the Scioto Ordnance Plant (SOP), one of many rapid‑build munitions facilities erected across the Midwest. On March 1, residents were ordered to vacate within sixty days.
The displacement was swift and unforgiving. Families were forced to sell livestock, equipment, and entire livelihoods during a wartime shortage of housing, fuel, and transportation. Although the government paid for the land, it offered no relocation assistance, and some families reported never receiving compensation at all.
The seizure extended even to the dead. The Lykins Cemetery—an 1830s burial ground—fell inside the restricted zone. Plans to relocate its 300 graves were abandoned in May 1942 to accelerate construction. For the duration of the war, families were permitted to visit only once a year under military escort.
Image: Map of former Scioto Ordnance Plant Wikipedia
Wartime Production
Operated by the U.S. Rubber Company, the Scioto Ordnance Plant employed nearly 3,000 workers at its peak. The plant produced .50‑caliber ammunition, 75mm artillery shells, and incendiary bombs of the type later used in the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo. In a grim example of wartime efficiency, the wooden crates used to ship these munitions were designed to be repurposed as coffins for American soldiers.
By late 1944, the site also hosted “Camp Marion,” a German prisoner‑of‑war camp whose detainees provided labor for the city and surrounding farms. The war ended, but the environmental legacy of the plant was only beginning.
“The Melting Snow” and Hidden Dangers
After the war, portions of the land were returned to agriculture or sold for housing. Yet strange phenomena persisted. Pilots flying over the area in winter reported a perfect square of land where snow melted instantly while the surrounding fields remained white.
The cause was later traced to buried incendiaries—phosphorus and other reactive chemicals—slowly oxidizing underground and generating heat. This was the first visible clue that the land concealed something far more dangerous.
The adjacent Marion Engineer Depot (MED), which shared operations with the ordnance plant, had been used to burn, dump, and bury massive quantities of hazardous waste in unlined trenches. These included solvents, fuels, explosive residues, and chemical byproducts. For decades, the contamination remained largely unacknowledged.
Image: Rusted-out barrels that were found on the eastern edge of the U.S. Army Reserve training center adjacent to the River Valley Local School District Property. Courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch, May 31, 2017.
The River Valley High School Tragedy
In the early 1960s, the River Valley Local School District unknowingly built its high school and middle school directly atop the former depot’s disposal grounds. Students attended class, ate lunch, and played sports on fields constructed over what locals would later call “the dump.”
By the late 1990s, parents and alumni began to notice a disturbing pattern: an unusual number of former students had developed leukemia. A state review found that the leukemia death rate among River Valley graduates was more than double the Ohio average.
Image: River Valley School areas of toxic contamination identified by the interviews with the Ohio EPA officials.
Environmental testing revealed a toxic mixture beneath the school grounds, including vinyl chloride at levels dozens to thousands of times above screening limits, trichloroethylene (TCE) in groundwater plumes, benzo(a)pyrene at elevated concentrations, and even radioactive materials such as a radium disk buried on the property and a radioactive rock discovered inside a classroom.
These findings confirmed what families had feared: the land beneath the school was never safe.
Federal Denial and Delayed Action
Despite mounting evidence, federal agencies repeatedly downplayed the risks posed by the former ordnance plant and depot. Early investigations were described as “inconclusive,” even though wartime records documented the burning and burial of hazardous waste in unlined pits.
Officials insisted that contaminants found beneath River Valley High School did not pose a threat to students, emphasizing that agencies were “in agreement” that the site was safe. This stance persisted even as independent consultants hired by parents uncovered chemical waste dating back to the 1940s and as state health officials confirmed a statistically significant leukemia cluster among graduates.
The government’s assurances delayed decisive action, prolonging student and community exposure to contaminated soil and vapor‑intruding chemicals. Only after sustained public pressure, media scrutiny, and accumulating evidence did federal authorities agree to relocate the schools and undertake a full remediation effort—an implicit admission that earlier denials had placed the public at risk.
How Exposure Occurred
Public anxiety initially focused on drinking water. But investigations found no evidence that the municipal water supply—provided by Aqua Ohio or the City of Marion—had been contaminated by the ordnance plant. The school’s tap water was safe.
The danger came from groundwater and soil directly beneath the buildings, not from the faucets.
Two primary exposure pathways were identified:
- Vapor Intrusion Volatile chemicals such as vinyl chloride and TCE evaporated from contaminated groundwater, rose through the soil, and seeped into the school through cracks in the foundation. Students and staff inhaled low levels of these vapors daily.
- Dermal Contact Athletes practicing on the fields came into direct contact with contaminated soil. During wet seasons, the groundwater table rose closer to the surface, increasing the likelihood of exposure.
Cleanup and Ongoing Remediation
Public outcry intensified in 1997 when yellow caution tape was placed around the athletic fields to keep students away from the most contaminated areas. By 2000, state lawmakers approved funding to relocate the schools entirely. The new River Valley campus opened in 2003 at a cost of more than $35 million.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assumed responsibility for the cleanup under the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program. Remediation included excavating thousands of tons of contaminated soil, installing engineered caps over waste that could not be removed, and establishing long‑term groundwater monitoring and five‑year reviews to ensure containment systems remain effective.
In 2012, the Corps declared the site “environmentally restored” with “No Further Action” required, though monitoring continues to this day.
PDF: Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Ohio
A Broader Legacy
The Scioto Ordnance Plant was not unique. Across the United States, WWII‑era munitions plants left behind contaminated soil, groundwater plumes, and communities grappling with the long‑term consequences of wartime production. Marion’s story is part of a national pattern—one in which the urgency of war overshadowed environmental stewardship, and the bill came due decades later.
Conclusion
The story of the Scioto Ordnance Plant is a stark reminder that the costs of war do not end with victory. The physical structures are gone, the schools have been relocated, and the fields have been capped—but the environmental scars remain. For a generation of River Valley students, the contamination beneath their feet was invisible, unacknowledged, and devastating.
Today, the site stands not merely as a historical footnote, but as a warning. Without transparency, accountability, and rigorous oversight, the land that sustains us can become the very thing that harms us. Marion County learned this lesson the hard way. The question now is whether we are willing to remember it.
Timeline of Key Events: Scioto Ordnance Plant Legacy
- March 1, 1942: Residents ordered to vacate over 12,500 acres for construction of the Scioto Ordnance Plant.
- May 1942: Plans to relocate 300 graves from Lykins Cemetery abandoned to speed construction.
- 1942-1945: Scioto Ordnance Plant operates, producing ammunition and incendiary bombs.
- Late 1944: Camp Marion, a German POW camp, established on site.
- Post-1945: Portions of land returned to agriculture or sold for housing; buried incendiaries cause “melting snow” phenomenon.
- Early 1960s: River Valley schools built atop former Marion Engineer Depot disposal grounds.
- Late 1990s: Leukemia cluster among River Valley graduates identified; toxic contamination discovered beneath schools.
- 1997: Athletic fields cordoned off with caution tape due to contamination.
- 2000: Funding approved to relocate River Valley schools.
- 2003: New River Valley campus opens.
- 2012: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declares site environmentally restored; monitoring continues.
Works Cited (Click Here)
“River Valley Schools Study: 2 Cancers Test Higher Than Normal”
- Publication: The Columbus Dispatch (via AP)
- Date: July 28, 2000
- Summary: This article reported on the Ohio Department of Health’s survey confirming leukemia rates were significantly higher than expected. It highlights the conflict between the findings and the Army Corps of Engineers’ stance, noting, “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers… has said that studies show that about 10 acres of the campus contain elevated levels of contamination but health risks appear to be minimal.”
- Link: View Archived Article
“A Town Divided: How a Cancer Threat is Tearing a Community Apart”
- Publication: Family Circle
- Date: August 1, 2001
- Summary: This investigative piece details the “Concerned River Valley Families” group’s struggle against official narratives. It cites a preliminary letter from officials concluding there was “no evidence of contamination that would present an immediate or chronic health hazard,” a statement that infuriated parents as testing later revealed benzopyrene levels 2,300 times higher than safety screenings.
- Link: View Article PDF
“Marion Engineering Depot, Ohio”
- Publication: Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO)
- Date: July 18, 2002
- Summary: This report serves as a critical overview of the government’s handling of the crisis. It explicitly states: “To ease the shock of the test results, the public was immediately assured that although the contamination was there, there were no pathways of exposure to the children.”
- Link: View CPEO Report
“Corps Completes 14-Year Environmental Cleanup at Marion Engineer Depot”
- Publication: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers News Release
- Date: September 25, 2012
- Summary: A retrospective from the Army Corps declaring the site “environmentally restored.” It contrasts sharply with earlier reports by framing the cleanup as a completed success story, stating “No Further Action is necessary.”
- Link: View USACE Release
“Return To River Valley: Some Families Still Believe School Grounds Led To Cancer”
- Publication: 10TV (WBNS)
- Date: May 13, 2013
- Summary: A retrospective looking back at the cancer cluster. It interviews Dr. David Brancato of the Army Corps of Engineers, who reiterates the government’s long-standing position: “Was this area ever unsafe? As far as the agencies collectively determined, the answer is no.”
- Link: View 10TV Report
“Scioto Ordnance Plant” (Video)
- Publication: WikiReader (YouTube)
- Date: July 4, 2021
- Summary: A video history detailing the creation of the plant, the displacement of residents, and the subsequent environmental findings.
- Link: Watch on YouTube
“Did Government Officials Cover Up a Lethal Ohio School Poisoning?”
- Publication: Crime Capsule
- Date: n.d.
- Summary: An article exploring the theory of a government cover-up regarding the River Valley leukemia cluster, discussing the delay in acknowledging the link between the depot’s waste and the school’s health crisis.
- Link: View Crime Capsule Article
“Scioto Ordnance Plant”
- Publication: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
- Date: Accessed Dec 2025
- Summary: General encyclopedia entry providing the operational history, timeline, and production details of the Scioto Ordnance Plant.
Link:View Wikipedia Entry