SEMS-RM DOCID # 100000375 HISTORIC PROPERTIES TREATMENT PLAN FOR THE APACHE POWDER PLANT, CURTISS, COCHISE COUNTY, ARIZONA PHASE 3 AT THE APACHE NITROGEN PRODUCTS, INC., FACILITY Prepared by: Avi Buckles Reviewed and submitted by: Fred Huntington 4001 East Paradise Falls Drive Tucson, Arizona 85712 (520) 206-9585 Cultural Resources Report 2013-47 July 25, 2013 Project No. 1656.10 02 02-3 A HISTORIC PROPERTIES TREATMENT PLAN FOR PHASE 3 AT THE APACHE NITROGEN FACILITY – i TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. iii INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 1 EXPLOSIVES, COPPER MINING, AND THE APACHE POWDER CO. ................................................ 3 Copper Mining in the American Southwest and Northwestern Mexico ................................................... 3 High Explosives ........................................................................................................................................ 4 The Apache Powder Co. of Arizona ......................................................................................................... 4 NITROGLYCERIN AND NITROGLYCERIN EXPLOSIVES .................................................................. 7 Discovery and Early Uses ......................................................................................................................... 7 Alfred Nobel and the Development of Nitroglycerin Explosives ............................................................. 7 Other Advances in Nitroglycerin Explosives .......................................................................................... 10 Nitroglycerin Explosives Production ...................................................................................................... 11 Nitroglycerin ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Powdery Dynamite ............................................................................................................................. 12 Nitrocellulose ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Blasting Gelatin and Gelatin Dynamite .............................................................................................. 13 Plant Design ........................................................................................................................................ 13 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE OF THE APACHE POWDER PLANT ........................................... 15 SUMMARY OF PHASE 3 BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES ............................................................... 16 RESEARCH PLAN .................................................................................................................................... 22 Vernacular Architecture at Nitroglycerin Explosives Plants .................................................................. 22 Nitroglycerin Explosives Production Systems ........................................................................................ 22 Technological Innovation and Safety Advances ..................................................................................... 23 The Mining and Construction Industries ................................................................................................ 23 WORK PLAN ............................................................................................................................................. 24 Architectural Inventory ........................................................................................................................... 24 Photography of Building Interiors and Machinery Documentation ........................................................ 24 Documentation of Plant Infrastructure and Building Foundations ......................................................... 24 Field Mapping ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Historical Research ................................................................................................................................. 25 Report ...................................................................................................................................................... 25 PROJECT SCHEDULE .............................................................................................................................. 26 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 27 Q:\jobs\1600's\1656.10\ARC\HPTP\Initial Submittal_07-25-13\HPTP_Apache Nitrogen_07-25-13.docx WestLand Resources, Inc. Engineering and Environmental Consultants ii – A HISTORIC PROPERTIES TREATMENT PLAN FOR FIGURES Figure 1. Vicinity map .......................................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Project location showing Phase 3 buildings and structures ...................................... map pocket PHOTOGRAPHS Photo 1. Aerial photograph of the Apache Powder Plant, December 1959 ......................................... 6 TABLES Table 1. Summary of Phase 3 buildings and structures ..................................................................... 16 APPENDICES Appendix A. EPA letter to SHPO dated June 27, 2013 Q:\jobs\1600's\1656.10\ARC\HPTP\Initial Submittal_07-25-13\HPTP_Apache Nitrogen_07-25-13.docx PHASE 3 AT THE APACHE NITROGEN FACILITY – iii ABSTRACT REPORT TITLE: Historic Properties Treatment Plan for the Apache Powder Plant, Curtiss, Cochise County, Arizona: Phase 3 at the Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc., Facility REPORT DATE: July 25, 2013 AGENCY: United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) PROJECT SPONSOR: Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. PROJECT NUMBER: 1656.10 (WestLand) LOCATION: Township 18 South, Range 21 East, portions of Sections 6 and 7; Cochise County, Arizona; Saint David USGS 7.5′ quadrangle LAND OWNERSHIP: Private ACREAGE: 194.8 REGISTER-ELIGIBLE PROPERTY: (1) Apache Powder Plant PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. (ANPI), the operators of the Apache Powder Plant, needs to remove the unused buildings and structures on the plant that pose a health and safety hazard due to the presence of lead paint, asbestos, and nitrate contamination. This project is proceeding in stages with Phase 3 to include 194 buildings and structures at the Apache Powder Plant, 126 of which were constructed between the early 1920s and the mid-1950s. These features, part of the historical powder line, were used to produce a variety of nitroglycerin blasting products for the mining and construction industries. The Apache Powder Plant retains integrity and is a unique example of an industrial system used to produce nitroglycerin explosives in the United States during the period 1920 to 1955. As such, the plant has been determined eligible by the EPA for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criteria (c) and (d). Unfortunately, because the buildings and related infrastructure in the powder line are located within an active explosives plant and are contaminated with hazardous materials, they cannot be preserved and open to the public. The removal of these buildings and structures will be an adverse effect on the NRHP- eligible portion of the historic Apache Powder Plant. In order to resolve the adverse effects of Phase 3 on the Apache Powder Plant, ANPI contracted with WestLand Resources, Inc., to prepare a Historic Properties Treatment Plan (HPTP) for the affected portion of the plant. The HPTP contained herein provides a framework for field studies and historical research on the Apache Powder Plant prior to Phase 3 demolition. WestLand Resources, Inc. Engineering and Environmental Consultants A HISTORIC PROPERTIES TREATMENT PLAN FOR PHASE 3 AT THE APACHE NITROGEN FACILITY – 1 INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT BACKGROUND Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. (ANPI), the operators of the Apache Powder Plant, needs to remove the unused buildings and structures on the plant that pose a health and safety hazard due to the presence of lead paint, asbestos, and nitrate contamination. This project is proceeding in stages with Phase 3 to include 194 buildings and structures at the Apache Powder Plant, 126 of which were constructed between the early 1920s and the mid-1950s. Because the plant, as a superfund site, is under the oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the planned project must comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (as amended). It should be noted that the planned removal of the contaminated buildings and structures is not mandated by the EPA, but is subject to the NHPA because of the EPA’s oversight of a superfund remediation project on another part of the property. The EPA has defined the Area of Potential Effect (APE) for the Phase 3 project as a 194.8-acre section of the property that consists of 194 buildings and structures within the footprint of the original Apache Powder Plant (Figures 1 [over] and 2 [map pocket]). The Phase 3 APE encompasses much of the historical powder line where a variety of nitroglycerin blasting products used in the