Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin signed into law a bill requesting a change to the way Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant process waste will be designated under the state’s waste codes April 6.

“This process has been a cooperative venture the whole way,” said Craig Williams, co-chair, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board (CDCAB). “Project leadership discussed the issue with us and we mapped out a solution together. We were pleased to see this bill pass into law, as it will enable a more realistic response should an accident happen during transport of these wastes.”

Under the previous classification, waste produced from the neutralization of chemical agents at the Blue Grass plant would have the same designation as that of undiluted chemical agent, said Todd Williams, environmental manager, BGCAPP. This includes the brine solution from the secondary process that will treat the wastewater, known as hydrolysate, from the main destruction process, as well as other secondary wastes. House Bill 106 proposed these wastes generated from agent destruction be given waste code designations based on the corresponding hazard of the material.

“Aligning these waste codes more properly will be of great benefit to our first-responder community,” said Todd Williams. “Under the old designation, in the event of an accident during shipment to a permitted disposal facility, first responders would likely have responded as if it were pure chemical agent. This unnecessary response would have been more complicated and alarming to the public rather than responding to the actual non-agent hazards presented by the waste.”

Blue Grass plant personnel worked closely with the Secondary Waste Working Group of the CDCAB, a community group that focuses on the Blue Grass project, to facilitate this change.

The changes took effect immediately upon the signing of the bill.