U.S. ARMY PUEBLO CHEMICAL DEPOT, Colo. – March 18, 2015 – Following a one-day delay caused by wind conditions, crews at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) successfully completed the movement of mustard-filled items and the first destruction of an item in the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Explosive Destruction System (PCAPP EDS).

PCD Commander Col. Michael S. Quinn, Gregory B. Mohrman, PCAPP site project manager, and Bruce Huenefeld, PCAPP EDS site project manager represent the leadership of the project.

“Weather conditions were excellent today for PCD personnel to load and transfer the first installment of stockpile items to the EDS for destruction. Our personnel in support of today’s event performed methodically and safely to make today a success. This is a proud day for everyone here at the Pueblo Chemical Depot,” Quinn said.

Upon the safe arrival of those items at the EDS site, a single Department of Transportation, or DOT, bottle was the first item to be prepared and loaded by crews from the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., into the EDS vessel.

Just minutes before noon , the United States returned to honoring our international commitment when the first detonation occurred in the PCAPP EDS, which accessed the bottle filled with mustard agent. Afterward, the bottle, which will be a metal fragment, will be removed from the vessel.

“We are excited and proud to be back on a path of ridding our nation of chemical weapons,” Huenefeld said. “We look forward to the day when the first projectile makes its way thought the main plant here later this year.”