IAAP cuts ribbon on new chemistry laboratory – Burlington Hawk Eye

Will Smith

MIDDLETOWN The new chemistry laboratory at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant isn't just more efficient.

It's also quite a bit smaller than the old lab, packed with state-of-the-art equipment that will make ammunition production run more smoothly.

"It's just what we need, and not a bit more," said IAAP senior scientist Geoff Giarmo, who helped oversee the construction of the lab.

The chemistry laboratory opened about three weeks ago. American Ordnance employees held a ribbon cutting for the new facility Wednesday, with the help of a ribbon and giant pair of scissors provided by the Greater Burlington Partnership.

Its a great day for all of us here in Iowa. The new chemistry lab is extremely important in what we do. What we do is get munitions to the warfighter," said Lt. Col. Stephen Koehler, who commands the plant for the Army.

The previous lab building was built in the early 1940s, around the same time the plant opened. The old building was deteriorating, and needed to be replaced.

"Many items in the (old) lab no longer meet current codes," said Jessi Mynatt, facilities engineering supervisor at IAAP.

The old lab was suffering from loose flooring, holes, poor insulation and no humidity controls, resulting in wide temperature variations. The lab was used to test quality of explosives, as well as water that is discharged into local streams to make sure it meets environmental standards.

"This impacted both the duration and accuracy of certain tests," Mynatt said during the ceremony.

IAAP is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility, and the new lab cost $5 million to construct. It's also quite a bit smaller, measuring about 4,900 square feet. The old lab came in at about 25,000 square feet, and parts of the building were no longer in use. Updating the old lab would have proved to be cost ineffective, and would have interrupted ongoing lab work.

"We are about 20 percent of the footprint of the old lab,"Giarmo said.

Giarmo led tours of the lab after the ribbon cutting ceremony, showing off the environmental testing lab and the main explosive lab. Therefrigerators have battery back up, ensuring a power outage won't impact samples held inside.

"A lot of the work we do is wet chemistry, so we have beakers and boilers ready," saidGiarmo, who noted explosives are tested for their point of ignition for safety measures.

The ribbon cutting came on the heels of$63.9 million contract for IAAP for a multi-year production of the M918E1 40mm high velocity training rounds. Production of the rounds will start next year, bringing more jobs to the plant.

Danville mayor Leroy Lippert said the new lab and the contract are good news for the area.

"Any time the government invests money, it makes you think they're going to be here for a while," he said.

Lippert was in attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony, along with West Burlington mayor Hans Trousil and Middletown mayor Gary Coyle.

The story has been updated to correct the spelling ofGeoff Giarmo.

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IAAP cuts ribbon on new chemistry laboratory - Burlington Hawk Eye