Does anyone know the whole story on the old beat down facility on Wellington road across from Nissan Pavilion? It has a sign that says Atlantic Research corporation but I never see anyone going in or out of the chain link fence. Valuable property but no apparent efforts to develop that area. I heard that it was a solid rocket fuel producer in the 50's and 60's and that there was a major environmental problem. Anyone know the deal?

I've meant to look this up for awhile now. The place looks creepy. There are signs on the fence saying official gov't property, no trespassing, etc. I'm not sure whats going on with it but I know it's been defunct for awhile now.

I went back and found the document from the EPA where I first read about ARC's contamination. (http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/va/pdf/vad023741705.pdf) It tells most of the story but I know there's something more to it than this. The scariest thing about this is the statement that says "Residential properties previously in the vicinity of the Facility to the south have been converted to industrial operations and an out door amphitheater. Community relation activities will be undertaken when necessary (for example, organize public meetings, develop fact sheets or continue to respond to telephone inquiries by the public businesses)." That's Nissan Pavilion. I'm just saying...Don't drink the water while you're going to the Jimmy Buffett concert.

Patriot06 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I went back and found the document from the EPA
> where I first read about ARC's contamination.
> (http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/va/pdf/vad02374170
> 5.pdf) It tells most of the story but I know
> there's something more to it than this. The
> scariest thing about this is the statement that
> says "Residential properties previously in the
> vicinity of the Facility to the south have been
> converted to industrial operations and an out door
> amphitheater. Community relation activities will
> be undertaken when necessary (for example,
> organize public meetings, develop fact sheets or
> continue to respond to telephone inquiries by the
> public businesses)." That's Nissan Pavilion. I'm
> just saying...Don't drink the water while you're
> going to the Jimmy Buffett concert.


I've heard that the old IBM grounds in Manassas were supposed to be cleaned up as part of a Superfund project, but it was never funded. Just think of all the crap underneath Micron, Lockheed and BAE.

All the crap underneath Micron, yeah! The crap running THROUGH the place, daily, as well. Hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, ect ect...

I ended up reading a little more online about ARC. Apparently they sued to be able to access public funds to cover the cleanup costs and the case went all the way to the supreme court...and they won.

also, don't know if anyone else has noticed but it appears they have done some very recent soil sampling on the site within sight of the fenceline on Wellington Road. I saw some new plastic tarping in several locations with freshly dug dirt on top. Not really sure why I care about this but it just all seems a little freaky. I keep waiting to see some Godzilla looking deer come crashing out of that dump from all the toxic crap in the soil.

Patriot06, you have all the facts about this place.

It was indeed a producer of solid rocket fuel, they also tested and made the rockets at that site.I imagine they transported the rockets on the railroad. From what I have read the minute-man rockets were tested there.

There are still test building with rocket test stands back in the woods there.
They have wells and trenches dug around the entire place to help control leeching. Lets just say I threw out my boots after that "hiking trip".

I too am skeptical how complete the clean up operations were. I know I get my water from Lake Manassas and that is up hill but still tetrazine and perclorate are some pretty bad chemical.

That place still has to be bad, after that last big rainfall we had in G-ville. I saw a couple crews trying to prevent run off going from the ARC land into a local stream, fucking wonderful!! All in the name of national security, Im thinking of doing a FOIA request on that place.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2008 10:34PM by Take a Stand.

Twilly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All the crap underneath Micron, yeah! The crap
> running THROUGH the place, daily, as well.
> Hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, ect ect...


http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/nar366.htm

ARC used to develop and test propellants for various missiles and rockets. That's all they did. No warheads or anything shady and they weren't "government"...just contractors. I've been on that site as a contractor. It's pretty shitty. Most of the buildings are circa 1950-1960 and most are just storage or a single building for a giant mixer or something like that. Leaky roofs, moldy walls, just nasty.

You have to remember - that site has been in use since the 50's. Environmental regulations have changed over time and really didn't exist for the first few decades. ARC vacated the site about 2 years ago, although the office building just before Nissan and the office building down by the satellite sales place are still in use. The "cleanup" is almost done as far as I know.

The best thing was the deer. They weren't scared of shit. You'd drive by a 12 pointer at about 10 feet and he'd just look at you.

Is this site easy to get in and explore? Or do their security guards "strongly" discourage unexpected visitors?

Seems like it'd be a good place go get some quasi-abandoned industrial photos, for those of us who are into that sort of thing...

bledbetter,
Well, if you hop the fence and get caught with a camera, they may have some pointed questions for you (they'll think you're all "Erin Brockovich," or something). Worth the risk? Not so sure.
On the other hand, you only live once, right? What's the worst that could happen? A Prince William County misdemeanor?
That place has intrigued me since I moved out here. If you do get some pics, post 'em.

I did some temp work at the ARC building that's still open by the site. When my assignment ednded, they tested me for radiation....I was negative...but still, that's creepy!

A guy i know from high school said he does IT security on site for some section of DoD on site there. They may not be there anymore as i haven't spoken with him for about 6 months. He did tell me they had some moderate security there, though. No machine guns, i imagine.

radioactive temp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I did some temp work at the ARC building that's
> still open by the site. When my assignment
> ednded, they tested me for radiation....I was
> negative...but still, that's creepy!


which agency placed you there?

I worked for Atlantic research on wellington road back in the early 90's and it was creepy even back then,they had a burn pit wich every wednesday they used to burn off all the old rocket fuel wich made a huge cloud of white smoke.

They are in the midst of a RCRA funded cleanup/study there. Supposedly there is prime residential land for the continuing sprawl of DC. Any homes there would be zoned for no basements or residential wells. I wouldn't be snooping around in there, I did some work there and its loaded with ticks, snakes, and disheveled looking deer stuck inside the fenced area. Better not to be curious, its just a dump...

I was under the impression that the whole Wellington Road area was zoned commercial and industrial only. Benzine is some bad shit and I cannot imagaine that they would a) seriously consider building homes there and b) that no one would make a big stink of they did.

I have a friend that works for Aerojet, recently she told me that all testing operations at the Gainesville site have moved to Culpeper, and that only the main buildings are used by scientists and other analysts. The security still exists, as the buildings where employees work still contain sensitive data. She told me that the lease on the buildings ends in 2012, and Aerojet will move all operations down to their Culpeper campus. After that, the plan in place right now is to build apartments and condos there. I wouldn't live anywhere on this old site, even though the burn pit has been removed.

Funny story, she told me the plant didn't start getting bad publicity until the early 1990's when a rocket motor a group of analysts were testing got loose and ended up flying through the air and landing on Wellington Road in front of a local school bus. Since then the local community has been demanding the relocation of the testing site.
Also, in 2002, during OZfest at Nissan Pavilion, a major motor test during the middle of the afternoon was so loud that the concert was halted for 5 minutes until the test ended. This event only created more support for Aerojet to relocate.
Also, Atlantic Research Corporation doesn't exist anymore, Aerojet sold it of to another company.

I wonder if anyone has done a long-term study of the deer/other wildlife that are trapped in there. Since they live off the land, I am sure they would have some side effects from the bad shit in the soil.

Patriot06 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I ended up reading a little more online about ARC.
> Apparently they sued to be able to access public
> funds to cover the cleanup costs and the case went
> all the way to the supreme court...and they won.
>
> also, don't know if anyone else has noticed but it
> appears they have done some very recent soil
> sampling on the site within sight of the fenceline
> on Wellington Road. I saw some new plastic tarping
> in several locations with freshly dug dirt on top.
> Not really sure why I care about this but it just
> all seems a little freaky. I keep waiting to see
> some Godzilla looking deer come crashing out of
> that dump from all the toxic crap in the soil.

The clean-up costs case involved their facility in ARKANSAS, if I understood the case correctly.

That's not to say there wasn't some bad stuff in Gainesville, though. How much production they did there versus testing of rocket motors made elsewhere, I don't know.

My dad (a chemical engineer who also worked at the notoriously dirty Union Carbide nuclear plant in Paducah KY for 8 years before coming to ARC) worked there from 1959 until he retired in 1984 or so, and drank the water there every day etc. (BTW, they made Redeye solid propellant rocket motors, also cheap target rockets which were used to provide targets for Redeyes to be fired at; later Redeye evolved into Stinger..don't know about Minuteman)

Given his employment history you'd expect him to glow in the dark or something, but he's a hale and hearty 85 year old who has the energy of men 30 years younger (me, for one), go figure...

We used to go to company picnics, once every summer, around a sort of central pond IIRC. God knows what was in there, but it actually looked sort of pretty, surrounded by pine trees...

I worked in the facility, developing the process for extruding solid propellent.

Most of the buildings were deliberately designed to be very fragile in order to not "contain" any incidents such as fires or explosives.

Management was very heavy in SAFETY of personnel and maintaining a clean environment.

I ate some bluegills cought from the pond.

Yes, we did have considerable amounts of "scrap solid propellent" and this was disposed of by periodically burning it in a pit under very closely controlled conditions. There was never any risk to causing a forest fire or damaging the environment of animals.

I used to do air conditioning replacements at ARC in the 80's. They had their own maintenance guys there that did repairs but called in a contractor for replacements. They had a high failure rate of evaperator coils, somthing in the air in some of the labs would eat through the copper in the coils and cause them to leak all or most of the freon out. They would even pay me for failed coils that were still under warranty, it was like they knew what was causing the problem but did not want to call attention to the issue.
Some of the bulidings in there required that a security guard stay with contractors the whole time we were working.

I am looking for information regarding Atlantic Reasearch Corporation mission statement and operation at a plant located on King Street West Hanover Massachusetts. In January 1958 my father was killed as a result of an onsite accident at this plant. I have started to look into this accident and am having trouble locating files, reports and other related information.
inspector69@comcast.net

I worked at ARC for most of the 80s. I was recently out of graduate school (in fact they paid for my graduate school), and I can't imagine a more exciting environment for a young engineer. I was involved in the Navy Standard Missile, Stinger, MLRS, C-4 (the missile, not the plastic explosive), D-5, a Star Wars system I can't remember, and God knows how many one-off missile programs and proposals. They were involved in the early development of composite materials, too, back when that work was pretty black. We're talking the Reagan years, when the military was going through a huge rebuilding phase.

As I recall, the employment there topped out at 2500 people, but that might be a little high. We had over 200 operating buildings, miles of roads some ponds and even our own fire station, fully equipped.

I was there as the pressure built for ARC to move energetic operations out of Gainesville. In fact the reason I left was the rumor that I would be transferred to their facilities in Camden, Arkansas. I spent a lot of time there as it was, and there was no way I was moving to Camden. Maybe it's a nice place now, but at the time it defined the phrase "shit hole." Meaning no offense to Arkansas natives, of course.

Two people were killed while I was there, one a contractor and the other an employee, but only the contractor died as a result of contact with energetic materials. Thing about propellants was once they started buring, there was no putting them out.

As far as environmental issues are concerned, we had some problems, but the vast majority of them were tied to things that were done before there were any real environmental regulations, and we were up front about all of them, and did everything that we asked to do. As I recall, we were the ones who discovered the problems in the first place and reported them to the EPA.

Someone mentioned the pit burns, where we destoryed scrap propellant. That is in fact true, and it was the only legal way to get rid of the stuff. We tried to hold weekly burns, but if the ground was too dry, we'd sometimes have to wait for many weeks between burns. They could get pretty exciting.

Then there are the deer, poor things. I don't know when the fence first went up, but I'm pretty sure that every deer you see now is a direct descendant of the ones who were first enclosed. We actually had to build barricades between the fenceline and the operating buildings in the back of the plant to keep poachers from shooting bullets into the explosives.

Anyway, it was a great place to work. And everyone can rest assured that while many of the programs were classified, none that I knew of were scarier than standards explosives.

This place has security driving around it on a constant basis. My urban exploring crew went and tried to get into the facility. No way. There are signs all over that tell you you will be charged with espionage, 10 years in prison and 20,000 dollars. We got to the fenceline and as soon as we did a security truck came driving around the road that circles around the entire facility. He was driving really slow and tapping the brakes a lot. Most likely looking for people trying to get in. Something is still happening back there. But if you are looking to explore something, try another location.

Please remember that the MInuteman, Polaris, and Titan kept the nuclear stalemate which the Cold War created and that ARC was a part of that effort. Environmental concerns were not a top priority when every earth tremor or smoke on the horizon caused your heart to stop from the fear of a nuclear strike.

The ponds were required by the US Government as DISPOSAL PONDS. (mainly for Primary Compounds)

It was a fearful time and it is amazing that world major leaders had enough sanity to keep from pressing the big red button.

A byproduct of solid rocket propellant burning is hydrochloric acid.

yeah that property is owned by Aerojet..used to do some short range missile testing there

bored@work Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yeah that property is owned by Aerojet..


Who bought out Atlantic Research Corporation back in the early 2000's.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

They make flying saucers.

There is testimony to this in the Disclosure Project.

I worked at ARC as an outside contractor from 2003-2004 just before the sale to Aerojet (or during, I didn't really know). It really bothered me to have to vent exhaust gases and other waste into a drainage ditch near our building. Many other things bothered me about working there, but that was the most blatant. Paid quite well though.

I have found this whole thread fascinating.

I worked at the Gainesville facility on Wellington between 1998 - 2000. I quit in order to move to Missouri.

I've recently been trying to find contacts and phone numbers to put on job applications and have not found anything.

I guess I know why now! :)

Thanks

The Prince William County property tax records show that the property was bought in 1976 for $2 million by "Gainesville Associates c/o the Maryland Jockey Club, Columbia MD." Gainesville Associates appears to be a "consulting firm" or holding company established for transacting business related to the land. Perhaps this includes rental income from ARC/Aerojet or whoever was/is leasing the land. According to Wikipedia's entry on the the MJC, it is "a sporting organization dedicated to horse racing, founded in Annapolis in 1743. The Jockey Club was founded more than 30 years before the start of the Revolutionary War and is chartered as the oldest sporting organization in North America. After 267 years it remains the corporate name of the company that operates; Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland which opened in 1870, Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland which opened in 1911 and Bowie Race Track in Bowie, Maryland which opened as race course in 1914 and ceased operations as a track in 1985. The track now serves as a training center for Thoroughbred racehorses." In recent times, however, horse racing in Maryland has been a dying industry and there is much turmoil surrounding the future of the business in that state. The plot thickens.....

ARC is the current 2010 development and "research" division for the government, it is affiliated with senator nun and sandia labs. Only a small part of old tech was licensed to areojet. ARC is the home of cutting edge military blac ops and munitions...DON't ask don't tell...been this way since 1943. They were a major supply'r of secret stuff during ww2 noteable for artillery fuzing and high explosives as well as "rocket' Moters.

i used to work there/
business went downhill in 1970.
we used to bury chemical warfare wastes in pits on the property. there should be some signs saying don't dig here.
we dosed the wastes with large amounts of hypochlorite bleach, that was supposed to neutralize the wastes.
u was told there were also beryllium wastes buried there, but i was not a participant in that.
> jack

ARC used to make solid rocket motors, and was a government defense contractor, work now done elsewhere. Too bad you can't plant in the soil, groundwater contamination as well, won't leach out of soil, tests for that heavier elements failed. Don't waste time on the property, let it go.

http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/va/pdf/vad023741705.pdf

My grandfather worked at ARC back when it first started. He's told me stories about how they would invent things for the military. One of the things they made was a type of plastic that never wears out. He still has a piece in the barn and it's amazing how durable it is. I honestly believe it to be industructible.

And of course, the rocket fuel. That was their main product they produced and made new mixtures of.

As for the death at the factory, this is what my grandad told me:
After the fuel was made, they would put it into metal cylinders with metal lids that you had to bolt on. My grandad was working next to one of the workers that was bolting on the lid and apparantly some of the fuel had gotten onto the threads and while he was tightning the bolt, it flew up and went through his jaw and out the top of his head, killing him instantly.

"As for the death at the factory, this is what my grandad told me:
After the fuel was made, they would put it into metal cylinders with metal lids that you had to bolt on. My grandad was working next to one of the workers that was bolting on the lid and apparantly some of the fuel had gotten onto the threads and while he was tightning the bolt, it flew up and went through his jaw and out the top of his head, killing him instantly."

I worked there for a few months in the summer of 1986, and I heard this same story almost word-for-word. Sometime in the 90s I saw a newspaper article that a worker slipped while cleaning one of the massive mixing drums and died. I was almost a casualty there, myself. I was a warehouseman, delivering rocket fuel to the various "magazines" around the campus. I was once in the test area when the siren for an imminent test went off and a 30-second (something like that) countdown started. It wasn't supposed to be able to happen with people in the area, but it did. My coworker and I ran like hell. They made fuel for minuteman rockets (I used to eat lunch sitting on a minuteman fuel casing) and stingers while I was there. My first week on the job a couple of stingers (unarmed, but still) disappeared and DOD investigators came in and were giving everyone polygraphs. They eventually found them in a garbage can. I have more stories from those three months than from the rest of my career combined.

I'm one of the security guards working that site. We've been patroling the plant since Sept 05. The plant stopped operations in 1999 and since 2005 various enviromental companys have been in there doing contamination testing and clean up. The buildings are to be demolished and the perperty turned over to the owners by Aug 2012.
Over the past six years the fence has been cut many times by people either exploring or coming in to steal copper wire and pipe. with exception of the buildings at the gate the place has been basically striped. I personally would not go roaming around the grounds or the buildings because the Ticks and chiggars are outragious. Plus I read the enviromental impact study. So if you do decide to trespass you so ar you own risk and if caught you will be arrested.

I worked there between July 1998 to Feb 2000, research and technology section. Disposal of material was closely monitored at that point, but it was clear through the actions of the long-tenured employees that the damage was already done. No one drank tap water, the company supplied bottled water for all. It was a decent place to work, but clearly on the downturn. Some of the research conducted at that point was upgrading the fuel for auto airbags, auto fire supression, and enhancements to already-in-use missile launch/sustainer systems. Making propellant mixes was fun and interesting, but breathing solvent fumes and oxidizer dusts was a daily hazard. I remember discussions with old-timers who told of programs involving nerve agents and buried animal carcasses following testing. There was supposedly a padded room in one of the main R/T buildings years ago for workers who accidentally got nerve agents on their skin which would cause hallucinations, paranoia, etc. It is my understanding that all the fun stuff (mix materials, equipment, etc) is long gone, the plant is virtually empty, and not worth the risk of attempting a sight-seeing visit.

ya so this place is really cool!! recently i have noticed increased activity around the main gate including an armed security guard! i have also seen deer wandering around the premisis, not sure if there experimental or regular deer. If they are regular deer, then ho did they get in???

To Jack Gordon......did ARC really bury chemical warfare wastes in pits at the Wellington Road Site ?? I always thought that ARC was only involved with rocket propellant. Why would ARC be involved with chemical warfare material, why would they bury it, and I wonder how much chemical warfare material ARC did bury ??

Patriot06 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I ended up reading a little more online about ARC.
> Apparently they sued to be able to access public
> funds to cover the cleanup costs and the case went
> all the way to the supreme court...and they won.
>
> also, don't know if anyone else has noticed but it
> appears they have done some very recent soil
> sampling on the site within sight of the fenceline
> on Wellington Road. I saw some new plastic tarping
> in several locations with freshly dug dirt on top.
> Not really sure why I care about this but it just
> all seems a little freaky. I keep waiting to see
> some Godzilla looking deer come crashing out of
> that dump from all the toxic crap in the soil.

Just figured you might find it interesting that the fire department is staging right now at Jiffy Lube with a complete HAZMAT response for ARC on Wellington Rd. The HAZMAT and few other suppression pieces that are there were to only be used for the Civil War event that started today. What ever is going on is not good. They only requested one ambulance so I guess that's good.

was wondering the same thing......please post if you find out before i do i have been listening on the scanner

Wow, how idiots start rumors ...

Atlantic research was around since the 1960's, I had relatives who retired there, then I worked there. They made solid rocket fuel, which burns very clean, with very little emissions, much, much less than today's cars. The only motors they built were small boosters, and they even had contracts on the boosters for the space shuttle.

ARC was very proud of being a clean facility, and the wildlife there is very healthy. It was very clean, and it only looks 'eerie' due to the fact that a lot of the buildings were never remodeled because they didn't need to be.

They were eventually bought out by Aerojet and moved the production side of the facility. Only a handful of office personnel still remain at Gainesville, offsite of the original plant.

Back in the day before Gainesville was overrun by yuppies, builders, and northern aggression, this was a nice area. Back when Linton Hall road was a dirt road, no stop lights, no traffic, very peaceful then.

So, need to start rumors about a place if you don't know it's history.

I used to rabbit hunt where all the shopping centers are now in Gainesville. Was a much better time then...

Patriot06 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I ended up reading a little more online about ARC.
> Apparently they sued to be able to access public
> funds to cover the cleanup costs and the case went
> all the way to the supreme court...and they won.
>
> also, don't know if anyone else has noticed but it
> appears they have done some very recent soil
> sampling on the site within sight of the fenceline
> on Wellington Road. I saw some new plastic tarping
> in several locations with freshly dug dirt on top.
> Not really sure why I care about this but it just
> all seems a little freaky. I keep waiting to see
> some Godzilla looking deer come crashing out of
> that dump from all the toxic crap in the soil.

I just left ARC wellington.... three headed deer everywhere drinking jack daniels and cola... a few space aliens smoking crack and making rocket fuel... whoa freaky place ya'll

I am a former 20 year employee at the Edsall Rd facility along I-95 in Springfield. THIS SITE IS EXACTLY all about rumors. ARC was a wonderful company to work for. It is a shame that President Coleman Raphael allowed the stock to go public. This when we were taken over by Sequa Corp. which pretty much milked ARC to save themselves. I did some work at the Pine Ridge facility on Wellington Road. The company had many employee picnics at Pine Ridge. It was a safe and employee friendly environment. All of you who are tearing at these bones---should spend more time on Capitol Hill. They have more meat to fight over.

Linda Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am a former 20 year employee at the Edsall Rd
> facility along I-95 in Springfield. THIS SITE IS
> EXACTLY all about rumors. ARC was a wonderful
> company to work for. It is a shame that President
> Coleman Raphael allowed the stock to go public.
> This when we were taken over by Sequa Corp. which
> pretty much milked ARC to save themselves. I did
> some work at the Pine Ridge facility on Wellington
> Road. The company had many employee picnics at
> Pine Ridge. It was a safe and employee friendly
> environment. All of you who are tearing at these
> bones---should spend more time on Capitol Hill.
> They have more meat to fight over.

I'm sure there are plenty of "speculations" regarding the Gainesville facility as have been posted. However, I also have to wonder:

1) The site is right across from Jiffy Lube Live. It is prime commercial real estate. Why hasn't it been put up for sale if the area is no longer used?

2) If the soil on the site is not contaminated, then why have wells been drilled off and on? It appears these "wells" are being drilled to check deep soil samples. I've seen the wells for myself from the road. This is not a speculation.

Any answers to those questions, Linda?

You seemed to be all greased up about Jiffy Lube, Then Why?

Douglas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You seemed to be all greased up about Jiffy Lube,
> Then Why?


Douglas, Don't worry about me. Also, we all now refer to the Jiffy Lube Live as "The Big Dipstick".

Patriot06 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I ended up reading a little more online about ARC.
> Apparently they sued to be able to access public
> funds to cover the cleanup costs and the case went
> all the way to the supreme court...and they won.
>
> also, don't know if anyone else has noticed but it
> appears they have done some very recent soil
> sampling on the site within sight of the fenceline
> on Wellington Road. I saw some new plastic tarping
> in several locations with freshly dug dirt on top.
> Not really sure why I care about this but it just
> all seems a little freaky. I keep waiting to see
> some Godzilla looking deer come crashing out of
> that dump from all the toxic crap in the soil.

My Dad was a Vice President at ARC and I grew up in Springfield. They actually did limited- compared to other facilities- testing at that locale. The irony is that Jimmy Sides (longtime President, who followed the founder of ARC at the helm) was awarded the Albert Einstein Peace Award by Israel a year or so ago. I am guessing the only interaction Jim had with Israel was over lox and weapon systems. Wasn't Albert a pacifist?

My father and I both worked at Edsall rd facility in the early 60's. Lee Rice was president then and I worked with Nora French his secretary. The grounds were beautiful and the cafeteria served delicious food with prime rib!! It was a great place to work and neither my father nor I suffered from any environmental issues.

I agree with Sylvia about the Edsall Rd facility being a great place to work. Women were promoted from within --which didn't happen at many places during the 70's and 80's. I walked across the glass paneled bridge to our wonderful cafeteria so many times. I remember the chefs cheese soup. I wish people would stop bashing ARC. It gave many of us a good job and lifestyle.

I worked at an Atlantic research facility in Hanover during one summer - 1966 or 67 - not sure. We made land mines for the Vietnam War. I have been interested in finding some record of its operations as well. After I left, I read about an accident in which at least one employee was killed.

I worked in the QC department at this facility back in the late 80's and early 90's, so I have a pretty good perspective on this topic. The issues with the EPA were mostly due to the lack of a disciplined approach to disposing of chemicals used by the factory workers. For the most part.....one of the main issues was the fact that Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) was used EVERYWHERE in the factory for cleaning up all kinds of mistakes on the rocket motors. When the MEK became too poluted to act as a working solvant, most of the factory workers would simply dump the refuse out in the weeds behind whatever building they worked in. I'm not saying that there weren't other issues, but I definitely know that this was one. As for safety....it was a very safety-conscious environment. Safety was stressed at all times, as the materials being worked were very dangerous. As a QC inspector, I saw it all, to include some of the projects that required security clearances. I assure you......there was nothing crazy going on. As others have already stated, this was simply another Defense contractor working on rocket motors and propellant for several of the missile programs.

RB1967 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I worked in the QC department at this facility
> back in the late 80's and early 90's, so I have a
> pretty good perspective on this topic. The issues
> with the EPA were mostly due to the lack of a
> disciplined approach to disposing of chemicals
> used by the factory workers. For the most
> part.....one of the main issues was the fact that
> Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) was used EVERYWHERE in
> the factory for cleaning up all kinds of mistakes
> on the rocket motors. When the MEK became too
> poluted to act as a working solvant, most of the
> factory workers would simply dump the refuse out
> in the weeds behind whatever building they worked
> in. I'm not saying that there weren't other
> issues, but I definitely know that this was one.
> As for safety....it was a very safety-conscious
> environment. Safety was stressed at all times, as
> the materials being worked were very dangerous.
> As a QC inspector, I saw it all, to include some
> of the projects that required security clearances.
> I assure you......there was nothing crazy going
> on. As others have already stated, this was
> simply another Defense contractor working on
> rocket motors and propellant for several of the
> missile programs.

Why do you think they are holding onto that land? The tax bill to the county has got to be quite a bit for the property - that's essentially just sitting vacant. I think the county offers some reprieve if you have a small farm. They should just buy a few cows to stay in the fence-in area to eat the grass and enjoy the tax discounts.

I would guess that the EPA issues from the past require periodic testing until some level of compliance is met. Maybe they haven't met the requirements yet, which means the property isn't usable. I'm just guessing and really don't know.

RB1967 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would guess that the EPA issues from the past
> require periodic testing until some level of
> compliance is met. Maybe they haven't met the
> requirements yet, which means the property isn't
> usable. I'm just guessing and really don't know.

Thanks. I guess I couldn't understand why that land was just sitting there when the county is building up lots of industrial parks right around the area.

Most of what I have read about ARC is true. I worked as a senior missile test technician at test bays 4 and 5 from 1978 'till 1982. The facility was called the "Air" facility because we pumped heated, high pressure air through the newly developing air-breathing ram-jet missiles we were working on about the time the original tomahawk cruise missile was being developed. I worked side-by-side with many highly intelligent ( and VERY well paid ) engineers. The head aerospace engineer at the time was a man named Bernie Brian. Bernie was brilliant, but at the same time, very anal, and suspicious of everyone and everything. He accused three test technicians of smoking marijuana in one of the test bays during a set-up phase prior to a live missile test. Two of the techs were urine tested and found that they did indeed have THC in their bloodstream. They were fired immediately. The third Technician refused to take a urine test and quit. Whether they really were smoking or not has never been proven. And that third technician was me ( ain't that a hoot?). The dismissal of all three test technicians, the only three qualified to operate this facility, set this test facility back one year until new techs could be trained. Bernie lost, or almost lost many hundreds of thousands of Department of Defense contracts for the USA Navy, and almost lost HIS job because of this incident. Sometimes being prudent needs to outweigh the " I am right and you are wrong mentality". Bernie was quoted to me later by a chemical engineer that I worked closely with named Joe C. that, " I wish I had kept my mouth shut about what I thought I smelled in the test bay #5 that day". The only people that really know what happened that day are those three technicians, wrongly accused by a man with a huge IQ, but a tiny brain.
I really hated leaving ARC because at that time it was a great, fun place to work. Good pay, all health benefits paid, profit sharing. etc. etc.
And about the ARC deer as they were called. They were very small dear, probably a mutation from all the MEK being poured on the ground. However, I HAVE seen them jump that 6 foot high barbed wire topped fence with ease.
As for the land... I doubt it will ever be cleaned-up. It is a wasteland. Too much, and too many decades of industrial spoilage. Being a senior tech had it's advantages. I had free access to ALL areas of the plant, and I saw it all. Most people that worked there had very limited access to only the areas they worked in. Also, at that time, there was NOTHING out that way. It was secluded country, but time has overgrown the area.

I was driving by there a few days ago on Wellington Road. I was surprised to see a silver security pickup truck driving on the inside of the fence area. I recall the security being there 10 - 15 years ago, but didn't realize they still had a small security force working at that site.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm the real H.I.D. If you question my identity, just hit the quote button on one of my posts and look for any of the "L" characters that have been replaced by the uppercase "I" character. That will tell you who the fake is.

The property has long been owned by Joseph De Francis (Gainesville Associates). Atlantic Research/Aerojet leased it from him. He has given a minimum of $25,000 to PWC Board Chairman Corey Stewart.

There is a pending rezoning on the 414 acres to allow a huge residential/commercial center. Watch the 2008-filed case "ripen" this year. Watch Stewart's previous opposition morph to enthusiastic support.

Rumor has it that there will be a lot of activity on this site in the next couple of months

I worked at ARC in the late 80 and early 90's as an engineer. The environmental issues were solvent getting into the grown water. Because energetic material as in rocket fuel was manufactured it was kept in small building spaced a long distance apart to keep neighboring building from going up if there was an accident. There were many small buildings that were far apart so they didn’t put in a sewer system. When you washed your hands the pipe from the sink just ran out onto the ground. Over decades a wide variety of solvents ended up on the ground and into the water table. In the early 90’s they cleaned up the most contaminated soil but you can’t get everything out. There is no extreme danger or extremely poisonous materials mostly just solvents used to clean your hand and metal parts. They are not good to have in your drinking water. The houses that were in the area had wells and this was the problem. The ground water from the ARC plant to the IBM facility was all contaminated. It was not clear who was most at fault. It was common practice at the time to rinse something off and dump the water onto the ground.

The rocket motor that got lose and went across the rode was a different facility in Orange County about a hours drive away. Almost nothing listed here is accruate

I certainly hope that as an engineer you didn't have to write or prepare any proposals Michael. Your spelling, grammar or proof reading is seriously lacking.The only thing that I do agree with you on is that most of these posts are inaccurate. I was employed by Atlantic Research from 1970 to 1990 and they were loyal to their employees. I wish their employees would be the same to them in their demise.

This thread has been greatly informative (link to EPA pdf and history about ARC's background) as well as entertaining. I drive by the site daily and am always wondering what's going on back there. I had theorized that the dilapidated buildings are a cover/misdirection - a means to throw off the public from the really cool stuff that is way back in the woods. (think Area 51 stuff!!) Ha ha.

Needless to say, I'm glad to get a little information about the site. However, I will still say it's a testing ground for alien space craft and technology (my wife and kids think it's funny when I go all conspiracy theory on them.)

I worked at ARC in the late 80 and early 90's as an engineer. The environmental issues were solvent getting into the grown water. Because energetic material as in rocket fuel was manufactured it was kept in small building spaced a long distance apart to keep neighboring building from going up if there was an accident. There were many small buildings that were far apart so they didn’t put in a sewer system. When you washed your hands the pipe from the sink just ran out onto the ground. Over decades a wide variety of solvents ended up on the ground and into the water table. In the early 90’s they cleaned up the most contaminated soil but you can’t get everything out. There is no extreme danger or extremely poisonous materials mostly just solvents used to clean your hand and metal parts. They are not good to have in your drinking water. The houses that were in the area had wells and this was the problem. The ground water from the ARC plant to the IBM facility was all contaminated. It was not clear who was most at fault. It was common practice at the time to rinse something off and dump the water onto the ground.


With all due respect, did you drink any of that contaminated water? Your grammar and syntax is seven kinds of messed up...

What is "grown water"? Did you mean "GROUND water"? Somehow, I doubt you were any sort of an engineer and if you were, I can see why this place sucked at what they did.

Good stuff...thanks for all those posting the truth. It is a fascinating story and I would have loved to see this facility in its prime...space age tech surrounded by rolling country and woods.


Patriot06 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I ended up reading a little more online about ARC.
> Apparently they sued to be able to access public
> funds to cover the cleanup costs and the case went
> all the way to the supreme court...and they won.
>
> also, don't know if anyone else has noticed but it
> appears they have done some very recent soil
> sampling on the site within sight of the fenceline
> on Wellington Road. I saw some new plastic tarping
> in several locations with freshly dug dirt on top.
> Not really sure why I care about this but it just
> all seems a little freaky. I keep waiting to see
> some Godzilla looking deer come crashing out of
> that dump from all the toxic crap in the soil.

I also worked at ARC in the late 80's to early 90's in rocket test specifically, starting at Edsall Rd's facility as a coop student then transfering to Wellington Rd's facilities later remaining until the big RIF under Clinton about '93 I think...
I had limited contact with Bernie, but knew Joe C, Steve Tony G.and the others well, a GREAT place to work, it's still one of my favorite jobs ever after all these years. I guess people find it easier to believe the worst about the place,
I'm sure it had/has pollution issues which will be addressed at a monetarily suitable time. Nothing even remotely suspicious went on, everything was done by the rules as they existed at that time, so any pollution issues are of the government's own creation.
I know we kept special sealed disposal containers for rag's, containers and such used with solvents etc so as to be mindful of the pollution problems and ensure of safe disposal.
The tiny deer there are the result of terible inbreeding and a limited food supply for that herd, I saw larger bucks jump the 10 foot barbed wire fences occasionally to go in and out, but the little shetland pony sized ones were trapped like their prdecessors... at least until the fences come down when it gets re-developed for a Manassas mega mall or home complex.

I drove by the facility this morning after dropping a friend off in the area. I've always wondered what went on here and then searched and found this informative site. Being a holiday I had nothing else to do so I drove around there a bit. I noticed along Wellington Rd the fence has recently been fixed and repaired. New sections have been “stitched” into the old fence.

They also appear to be doing some work in the area. There is a rented water truck, bobcat and a company pickup truck. The company truck is from the SHAW Corporation. These can be seen as you drive past Jiffy Lube behind the buildings that are close to the road. There also seems to be a few new shipping containers there that I don’t recall seeing in the past.

Patriot06 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I ended up reading a little more online about ARC.
> Apparently they sued to be able to access public
> funds to cover the cleanup costs and the case went
> all the way to the supreme court...and they won.
>
> also, don't know if anyone else has noticed but it
> appears they have done some very recent soil
> sampling on the site within sight of the fenceline
> on Wellington Road. I saw some new plastic tarping
> in several locations with freshly dug dirt on top.
> Not really sure why I care about this but it just
> all seems a little freaky. I keep waiting to see
> some Godzilla looking deer come crashing out of
> that dump from all the toxic crap in the soil.

Worked Ironically at an Environmental company down the Road Balls Ford. We were monitored very carefully. Yet we never worked on that site. I saw the Zombie Deer at night. MEKs and Transformer Oils are extremely dangerous to Children and Immune Systems. It will cost billions to contain the damage. Don't let them fool you. Their Families will not be living there. This damage is cumulative in its effect. They need to do testing on all former site Personnel. The longer the exposure the more likely this stuff is in their bodies. Think about the work boots you brought home and left at the door. I worked in Confined Space and Remediation. This is no joke. Please protect our Children from the Cold War acceptable loss mentality. It can be contained and kept safe. Lets do this for our future. We owe it to the People who worked all those years for us.

This is an old CIA facility

My dad worked his entire career (1965-2000) at ARC. They blew up a lot of stuff testing rockets in Gainsville, Manassas and the Outer Banks of NC. I always thought he was a beltway bandit/warmonger/defense contractor, but my sister contends that it was a front for the CIA. Who knows. I just asked him if they made flying saucers (after references to The Disclosure Project), he said no.

I did security here last year for a short amount of time, here is an inside look.

http://imgur.com/a/vuxfh

Some of those pictures portray a post apocalyptic look.
All thats missing are some zombie mutants.

Thanks for the pictures. You have a good eye.

My mom worked there when I was little. I remember going with our family there for deer hunting and cutting trees for firewood.

I also remember the awesome family picnic/barbecues the company put on once a year.

I too worked at the Wellington location for ARC as a test engineer in the early 90's along side M. Love (above) and with T. Gatto (my supervisor), S. Severn, J. Copeland, T. Lane and several other engineers and technicians. Let me assure that everything done there was completely on the up and up and to the regulations at the time. As for a company, ARC was an excellant employer to work for with many benefits both professional and personal. Yes most of the buildings looked dated but they were adequate at the time. The air breathing test stand mentioned above for ram/scram jet testing was very cutting edge and many brilliant engineers were associated with it design and use. I have nothing but good memories from my years at ARC and gained valuable experiance during my time there. Oh, yes the dear were like pets. Never saw any state records there but they were cool to have around in your work area.

I use to work for Atlantic Research Corporation in the Marketing Dept.

The co pany merged with another company back in 1997, like ARC it was a rocket fuel/missile company. Since then that company has also fallen to bad times. They were one of the greatest compans to work for. Jim Sides, the President of ARC at the time along with countless employees whom treated everyone as if they were on the same level as they were (managemently speaking). My boss, Ernie Flemig (GOD rest his soul) was one of the most wonderful.

However, back to your question. It was my recollection that the site had to sit for some 30 years because of the type facility it was to make sure there were/are no chemical side effects still withstanding. I have however heard that the deer are chemically affected and can no longer leave the facility.

Wow, I love your post. Andyou are soooo correct in your posting. Those were great times, days, and areas. Bless you, you actually brought a tear to my eye.

I, too, remember ARC with great respect. I worked at the Edsall Rd. location for twenty years. I remember Coleman Raphael as president and then Jim Sides. Management was wonderful in the fact that they believed in rewarding good work and promoting from within. The picnics were great--both At Gainesville and the later location in Maryland. Christmas parties were a blast. Especially the boiler room party at Edsall road. I am so glad to read some positive posts about a great company.

BERNARD SILVER Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I worked in the facility, developing the process
> for extruding solid propellent.
>
> Most of the buildings were deliberately designed
> to be very fragile in order to not "contain" any
> incidents such as fires or explosives.
>
> Management was very heavy in SAFETY of personnel
> and maintaining a clean environment.
>
> I ate some bluegills cought from the pond.
>
> Yes, we did have considerable amounts of "scrap
> solid propellent" and this was disposed of by
> periodically burning it in a pit under very
> closely controlled conditions. There was never any
> risk to causing a forest fire or damaging the
> environment of animals.

After my release from US Army in 1953 (Korea) I was very happily and usefully employed ar Atlantic Research Corp for 26 years.

I did quite a lot of development work on solid propellant fuels and improvements to some weapons at the Gainseville facility.

In general, from the President down to the lowest grade employee there was a high degree of concern for SAFETY and the well being of all fellow employees.

We had a level of well trained\educated personnel who continuously checked for SAFETY and careful disposal of unwanted material.

I don't hesitate to state that ARC with all management and fellow employees was a fantastic place to be employed and would be delighted to relive the experience.

Regrettably, I have to report that one of the original members of ARC, Dr. Lester Weil who was my boss for some period and a friend after we were both retired, died around the end of 2012. I believe he was 96 years old.
Dr. Weil was the primary Manager of the Pine Ridge, Gainseville Facility.

My older brother worked there for a summer in the early 80's I believe. He said some scary shit went on there testing rocket fuels and other such stuff. I actually remember huge clouds of smoke coming out of there some days.

Bernard - thanks for posting that information. It sounds like it was a great place to work, based on your feedback and that of others who worked there.


BERNARD SILVER Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> After my release from US Army in 1953 (Korea) I
> was very happily and usefully employed ar Atlantic
> Research Corp for 26 years.
>
> I did quite a lot of development work on solid
> propellant fuels and improvements to some weapons
> at the Gainseville facility.
>
> In general, from the President down to the lowest
> grade employee there was a high degree of concern
> for SAFETY and the well being of all fellow
> employees.
>
> We had a level of well trained\educated personnel
> who continuously checked for SAFETY and careful
> disposal of unwanted material.
>
> I don't hesitate to state that ARC with all
> management and fellow employees was a fantastic
> place to be employed and would be delighted to
> relive the experience.
>
> Regrettably, I have to report that one of the
> original members of ARC, Dr. Lester Weil who was
> my boss for some period and a friend after we were
> both retired, died around the end of 2012. I
> believe he was 96 years old.
> Dr. Weil was the primary Manager of the Pine
> Ridge, Gainseville Facility.

I worked at the Edsal Rd. facility for about 6 months around 1986 or 87 as a Plastics Fabricator on the Mk. 30 project. Spent most of the time cleaning cases with MEK out back and in the vapor degreasor, followed by grit blasting and priming the cases in preparation for insulation layup. I can't remember who was running the layup room (this was on 1st shift). From time to time I helped with Stinger (Mk.27) or Tomahawk (Mk. 106).

I have to say that despite my short time with ARC, the people who worked in the shop were great. The company took care of us very well. It was a good place to work. I quit working for ARC for the simple reason that I was bored there. That was just me. I do look back on my youth and that I may have made a mistake leaving ARC.

To those that I knew then (and can't remember due to age and faulty memory), thanks. I pray that all are well.

W. Smith

I was wondering if anyone who worked for ARC knew a Robert Barker, he is my deceased Grandfather whom I'm trying to find more information about. I believe he did some work with electrical engineering at one point. I'm not sure what facility he would have worked at or when but it was one of his last jobs he held and he lived in Manassas, VA. Any info would be appreciated.

BARBEE ","JENNIFER ","L","029"," 3523","NEXUS ","CT","WOODBRIDGE ","VA","03/26/2004","TINTED WINDOWS "
"BARBEE ","JENNIFER ","L","029"," 5746","WILSHIRE ","DR","WARRENTON ","VA","04/07/2004","TINTED WINDOWS "
"BARBEE ","JENNIFER ","M","037"," 6163","EARLY AUTUMN ","DR","CENTREVILLE ","VA","02/10/2004","EXPIRED STATE LIC PLATE "
"BARBEE ","JENNIFER ","M","037"," 6163","EARLY AUTUMN ","DR","CENTREVILLE ","VA","04/20/2004","DRIVE-OL RVKD/SUSP "
"BARBEE ","JENNIFER ","M","037"," 6163","EARLY AUTUMN ","DR","CENTREVILLE ","VA","04/20/2004","FAIL KEEP PROPER CONTROL

BARKER ","ROBERT "," ","027"," 13797","MEADOWBROOK ","RD","DALE CITY ","VA","04/18/2003","P/ID OTHER HALLUCINOGENIC

you didn't want to look up william smith?

Here's his old business card. He worked at the Alexandria facility. Would anyone know what his job consisted of?


Jennifer Barbee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was wondering if anyone who worked for ARC knew
> a Robert Barker, he is my deceased Grandfather
> whom I'm trying to find more information about. I
> believe he did some work with electrical
> engineering at one point. I'm not sure what
> facility he would have worked at or when but it
> was one of his last jobs he held and he lived in
> Manassas, VA. Any info would be appreciated.
Attachments:

Too bad they couldn't show us a close -up of the business card.

I know first hand , this place produced the solid rocket and missile fuel. It did not assemble any of the weaponry parts of the rockets/missiles. The stands out back are not testing stands , they are propelant curing stations. That place will glow for hundreds of years :~)

I know first hand , this place produced the solid rocket and missile fuel. It did not assemble any of the weaponry parts of the rockets/missiles. The stands out back are not testing stands , they are propelant curing stations. That place will glow for hundreds of years :~)

Your grandfathers account of the death of his coworker is absolutely correct

I drive past this place every day, always was curious about it's history, glad I found this forum! Anything worth going there to photograph?