The Jackson Sun covered Sen. Finney’s “Lowe Listens to You” tour in Madison County on July 24. Below is the story as printed in Sunday’s edition.
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FINNEY TALKS OF ARSENAL MEETING
NED B. HUNTER | JACKSON SUN, July 25
State Sen. Lowe Finney met with American Ordnance and U.S. Army officials at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant on Monday in an effort to save local jobs.
The news that Finney attended a meeting at the Milan arsenal was released during a Saturday campaign event held at Cajun Cookers in Three Way. Finney is unopposed in the Aug. 5 Democratic primary. He will face the winner of the Republican primary contest between former state Sen. Don McLeary, of Jackson, and retired Air Force Col. Jim Harding, of Huntingdon, in November.
Finney said he, Gibson County representatives and representatives from U.S. Rep. John Tanner’s and U.S. Sens. Bob Corker’s and Lamar Alexander’s offices attended the meeting. The meeting was held in an effort to learn more about American Ordnance’s plan to move its ordnance manufacturing from Milan to Iowa. If the move occurs, the local U.S. Army-owned facility will be used for the demilitarization of weapons and as a storage facility for depleted uranium.
American Ordnance currently uses the Milan arsenal to manufacture 40-millimeter munitions, 60mm and 81mm mortars and other ordnance for the U.S. military, primarily the U.S. Army. The company has proposed moving that manufacturing to a sister facility in Iowa in an effort to reduce the military’s manufacturing costs. The move, if approved, is expected to be completed by mid-2012.
“The focus for us to keep, and also bring, as many jobs to that facility as possible,” said Finney before the start of Saturday’s event. “Even if those jobs are not with ammunitions but with contractors that are brought into work there.”
The Milan arsenal employs about 760, of which 732 are employed by American Ordnance.
Finney spent Saturday traveling throughout Madison County during a “listening tour” designed to hear his constituents’ concerns.
“We want to hear what folks are saying,” he said, “and what they want us to do in Nashville.”
Tenn. Gov. Phil Bredesen has worked with the state’s Attorney General Robert Cooper and other state officials on a letter to the U.S. Army and American Ordnance regarding their concerns about moving manufacturing from the area, Finney said.
“The governor has written a letter,” he said, “addressing (these) issues to the Army.”
When asked about McLeary’s earlier statement that the Milan Army Ammunition Plant should be turned into a megasite if American Ordnance is allowed to move manufacturing to Iowa, Finney said that idea likely could not be accomplished.
The land, he said, is owned by the U.S. Army, which is unlikely to sell it. Also, American Ordnance is only in its second year of a 10-year contract with the U.S. Army to run the munitions plant. The contract included three five-year options that could allow American Ordnance the right to occupy the facility until around 2033.
“And there are significant environmental issues there also,” he said. “Part of that land has been designated as a Superfund site.”
“A Superfund site is an uncontrolled or abandoned place where hazardous waste is located, possibly affecting local ecosystems or people,” according to www.epa.gov.