(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Army and the contractor that operates the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in southeast Iowa have agreed to pay a 39-thousand dollar fine for allegedly mishandling explosives. The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant covers 19-thousand acres, with nearly a thousand buildings where a wide range of military weapons are produced, assembled and stored. The Environmental Protection Agency cited the plant for improperly detonating explosives and failing to property close the detonation chamber for grenades after it was moved to a different location in the complex last year. The agency also says munitions were burned in open burn pans, above levels allowed in the facility’s hazardous waste management permit.

According to an E-P-A news release, the Army and American Ordnance, the contractor that manages the facility, have taken steps to comply with federal waste management rules. Those regulations apply to privately held, as well as government-owned facilities.