Granite Peak Installation

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The Granite Peak Installation (GPI) was a U.S. bio-weapons testing site located on about 250 square miles of the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. It was part of Dugway but had its own facilities, including utilities, labs, living quarters, and a medical facility.

GPI began as a project in 1943 and became the main U.S. bio-weapons testing site in June 1944. Construction started July 10, 1944, and finished January 30, 1945, at a cost of about $1.3 million (roughly $23 million today). The installation was closed after World War II ended in 1945.

While GPI was part of Dugway, it was run by the Special Projects Division of the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories and controlled its own tests, with Dugway personnel assisting with air missions and weather data.

Various tests were conducted, including a 91-pound bomb known as VKA (vegetable killer acid, a form of 2,4-D). Other work involved agents like Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and Brucella suis (brucellosis). In 1952, the M33 cluster bomb was used in tests that exposed more than 11,000 guinea pigs to Brucella suis, prompting a famous quip about the guinea pig trials.

GPI lies about 30 miles west of the nearest area called Dog Area, so it could operate with its own facilities. By 1985, only two structures remained: a pump house and an underground storage building. The site included a landing strip, 22 miles of roads, and utilities such as sewers, power plants, and water/steam delivery systems.