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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)
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      Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)


      Mission: Destroy Chemical Weapons Stockpile

      Vision: Chemical Weapons Free by 2023

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      Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP)

      BGCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Kentucky.

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      Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP)

      PCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.

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Pueblo Plant Marks Successful Year of Operations

Published: December 17, 2019 | Category: PCAPP News, Program Milestones, Technology
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician uses a lift-assist device to transfer 155mm projectiles from a pallet to the automated processing line for disassembly and draining. In July 2019, the plant exceeded the halfway point for the 155mm destruction campaign.

    A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician uses a lift-assist device to transfer 155mm projectiles from a pallet to the automated processing line for disassembly and draining. In July 2019, the plant exceeded the halfway point for the 155mm destruction campaign.

  • Mr. Michael Abaie, Program Executive Officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, tours the Static Detonation Chamber assembly site at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, Nov. 20, 2019. Three SDCs will augment the main plant and help meet the Congressional destruction deadline of Dec. 31, 2023.

    Mr. Michael Abaie, Program Executive Officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, tours the Static Detonation Chamber assembly site at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, Nov. 20, 2019. Three SDCs will augment the main plant and help meet the Congressional destruction deadline of Dec. 31, 2023.

In 2019, workers at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant made significant progress in the destruction of mustard agent-filled munitions, eliminating hundreds of tons of chemical agent.

“We finished pilot testing in the spring, started Static Detonation Chamber (assembly) in the summer, and we’re on pace to finish the year with approximately 200,000 munitions destroyed,” said Ken Harrawood, project manager, Bechtel Pueblo Team.

The PCAPP facility uses a two-step destruction process, neutralization followed by biotreatment, as the primary technology to destroy the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile in Colorado. Since agent destruction operations began in 2015, the Pueblo team has safely destroyed more than 1,000 U.S. tons of chemical agent. In April, it was announced that 25% of the agent in the stockpile had been eliminated; in the first quarter of 2020, more than half of the agent should be destroyed.

In July, a milestone was reached when the team successfully destroyed more than half of the 155mm projectiles in the depot stockpile, the first munitions destruction campaign underway. The stockpile in Pueblo consists of 155 and 105mm projectiles, as well as 4.2-inch mortar rounds.

Workers performed Integrated Facility Demonstrations to validate the plant operates as designed. In early May, the third and final background sampling of pilot testing was successfully completed. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is reviewing the data from pilot testing. After this review is complete, a determination will come on issuing the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, known as RCRA, Part B permit, allowing the plant to officially begin full operations while continuing to properly manage wastes.

To help accelerate the destruction timeline and meet the Congressional destruction deadline of Dec. 31, 2023, three SDCs were ordered to augment the main plant. The SDC is a safe and proven technology that will use thermal heat to detonate or deflagrate chemical weapons.

In the spring, work began on site preparation. The arrival of the first SDC components occurred in the summer. The SDCs are scheduled to start operating in late 2020.

Meanwhile, ordnance technicians at the main plant continued baseline reconfiguration of the 4.2-inch mortar rounds, the process of removing projectiles from wooden boxes and fiberboard tubes and readying them for future processing by the SDCs.

PCAPP Technology Articles

  • Attention to Detail Prevents System Clogs

    Attention to Detail Prevents System Clogs

    Published: March 23, 2021
  • Innovative Solution Reduces Problematic Munitions

    Innovative Solution Reduces Problematic Munitions

    Published: March 4, 2021
  • Pueblo Plant Upgrades Closed-Circuit Camera System

    Pueblo Plant Upgrades Closed-Circuit Camera System

    Published: February 10, 2021
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Automation Specialist Wendell Savage teaches the Training Facility robot about the new Drained Munition Weight Station. Later, the lessons were applied to the plant’s Munitions Washout System.

    Pueblo Plant Worker Instrumental in Campaign Success

    Published: February 2, 2021
  • Static Detonation Chamber Units Begin Testing

    Static Detonation Chamber Units Begin Testing

    Published: December 22, 2020
  • Workers Reconfigure Equipment for Next Destruction Campaign

    Workers Reconfigure Equipment for Next Destruction Campaign

    Published: November 30, 2020
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Recent PCAPP Articles

  • Colorado Governor Appoints New Advisory Commission Member

    Colorado Governor Appoints New Advisory Commission Member

    April 8, 2021
  • Toxic Material Handlers Keep Up with Demand

    Toxic Material Handlers Keep Up with Demand

    April 6, 2021
  • Colorado Congress Members Tour Pueblo Plant

    Colorado Congress Members Tour Pueblo Plant

    February 12, 2021
  • Pueblo Plant Worker Instrumental in Campaign Success

    Pueblo Plant Worker Instrumental in Campaign Success

    February 2, 2021
  • Strict Protocols Keep Pueblo Plant Safe

    Strict Protocols Keep Pueblo Plant Safe

    January 20, 2021
  • Plants Operate with Pandemic Precautions in Place

    Plants Operate with Pandemic Precautions in Place

    December 17, 2020

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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)