Blue Grass Plant Leaders Discuss Project Progress with Community

“We are now more than 44 percent complete with systemization activities,” said Wade Hollinger, deputy site project manager, BGCAPP. “Systemization exists to make sure the plant, people and paper—whether that be the permits, procedures, maintenance documents or manuals—are all in order to start the plant.”

“We are in the process of some physical work of what we call shakeout,” said Ron Hink, project manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass. “We’ve got things like system flushing and pressure testing to do.”

Hink also said systemization team members are performing tasks such as control system testing to make sure equipment and instruments throughout the plant are communicating with the Facility Control System in the Control Room.

Project leaders then gave an update on the facility that will destroy mustard munitions. Hink said siding and roofing were being placed on the EDT Enclosure Building, interior and exterior coating is complete on the EDT Service Magazine and foundation work for the Outside Operations Support Facility is progressing. Hollinger presented a document the program calls a roadmap used to organize preparations for EDT operations.

“We developed this tool to help us coordinate the various activities that have to come together as necessary to initiate plant operations,” he said. “There are many activities that Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, the government and other stakeholders need to provide in order for us to declare readiness to begin destruction of these chemical weapons.”

“This is very helpful and appreciated,” said Craig Williams, co-chair, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board (CDCAB).