Lake City Furloughs 300 After Fatal Ammo Plant Explosion

We told you ten days ago about the fatal primer mixing facility blast at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant that killed one employee and wounded three others.

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What’ we’re just discovering is how significantly that blast affected operations of the plant, and it seems to be quite significant.

Up to 300 full-time employees at the Lake City Ammunition Plant found out Wednesday they will be furloughed until the facility can get back to full capacity.

Those furloughs are expected to begin at the end of the week, according to a spokesperson for Orbital ATK.

The explosion that killed one and injured four heavily damaged the primer mixing operations at the plant, and until that area is up and running, materials are not available for production.

The plant is still finalizing a recovery plan, but it’s unknown when there will be a return to normal operations.

Lakc City is responsible for the manufacture of small arms ammunition for the United States military, and makes more than one billion rounds of ammunition every year to exacting standards. It is the U.S. military’s single largest small arms ammunition plant, and has been run by Orbital ATK under a government contract since April of 2001.

 

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