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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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Lab Employees Represent Pueblo Plant at STEM Fair

Published: February 20, 2020 | Category: PCAPP News, Technology
  • Mechelle Cass-Burrell, a laboratory operator at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, uses a toy robot to help a student at the Pueblo School District 60 STEM Fair in January 2020 understand the technology destroying chemical weapons.

    Mechelle Cass-Burrell, a laboratory operator at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, uses a toy robot to help a student at the Pueblo School District 60 STEM Fair in January 2020 understand the technology destroying chemical weapons.

  • Mechelle Cass-Burrell, a Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant GC/MSD/FPD operator, poses for a portrait at the laboratory where she calibrates and uses the equipment that detects and measures mustard agent.

    Mechelle Cass-Burrell, a Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant GC/MSD/FPD operator, poses for a portrait at the laboratory where she calibrates and uses the equipment that detects and measures mustard agent.

  • Mac Barth, a method development chemist at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, poses for a portrait at the laboratory where he helps develop improved agent detection.

    Mac Barth, a method development chemist at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, poses for a portrait at the laboratory where he helps develop improved agent detection.

Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant employees brought science and robotics to life for students at the Pueblo School District 60 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Fair.

“By interacting with students and showing them that science can be fun, we are hopeful to inspire a future generation of scientists and engineers,” said former teacher Mechelle Cass-Burrell, who works in the plant’s laboratory. “And, it’s nice to bring the science behind PCAPP to the kids.”

Cass-Burrell is a gas chromatography/flame photometric detector/mass selective detector operator, calibrating and using the equipment at the plant that detects and measures mustard agent. Also with her at the STEM Fair was Mac Barth, the lab’s method development chemist, who helps develop improved agent detection. Together they used toy robots to demonstrate how the Projectile/Mortar Disassembly System works, emphasizing the plant’s goal of safely eliminating obsolete projectiles. The battery-operated robotic arms were a big hit with the kids as they tried to pick up and move empty plastic bottles that represented munitions, Cass-Burrell said.

More than 200 primary and secondary students competed at the fair, held Jan. 28-30 at Colorado State University-Pueblo, near the plant destroying the remaining U.S. chemical weapons stockpile in Colorado.

The scientists joined other PCAPP workers – Jaylynn Sharp, monitoring technician; Jessica Reyes, maintenance supervisor; Elicia Vigil, quality control inspector; and Jon Bush and Paul Mrock, cognizant systems engineers – to judge science projects from middle- and high-school students at the three-day event.

Prior to an awards assembly on the final day, Cass-Burrell and Barth also illustrated applications of atmospheric science with a “Fortune Fish” demonstration. Fortune Fish are made up of a hygroscopic polymer that allows water absorption and retention. Water vapor in the air, or ions, can cause a reaction, and the cellophane fish expands and curls up with moisture. The Pueblo plant uses atmospheric science to detect chemical agent and filter out byproducts of the neutralization process that destroys it.

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)