The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant team completed the destruction of more than 383,000 mustard agent-filled 105mm projectiles on July 20.

“Thanks to the dedication of our committed team, with every munition destroyed at PCAPP we are making the Pueblo community and the nation safer,” said Walton Levi, site project manager, PCAPP.

“I’m so proud of our entire team for their hard work and focus in completing destruction of our largest projectile stockpile,” added Kim Jackson, plant manager, PCAPP.

The 105mm projectile destruction campaign is the second of three campaigns undertaken since chemical weapons elimination began at PCAPP in 2015. The campaign to destroy 105mm projectiles began in December 2020, two months after the conclusion of the 155mm projectile campaign.

“We have applied the lessons we learned destroying munitions at this site since 2015, which helped us achieve maximum productivity and complete destruction of these projectiles sooner than we anticipated,” Levi said. “This has truly been a commendable team effort from everyone here.”

The third and final chemical weapons destruction campaign at PCAPP, destroying approximately 97,000 4.2-inch mortar rounds, began in February 2022. The mortar rounds are being destroyed in the plant’s three Static Detonation Chamber units. With the conclusion of the 105mm campaign, automated destruction systems can be reconfigured by plant engineers and technicians to accommodate mortar rounds.

“Completion of the final mission is on the horizon,” Michael Abaie, program executive officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives. “Since weapons destruction first started in 2015, more than 89 percent of the mustard agent has been safely destroyed here.”

PEO ACWA is targeting completion of the destruction of the remaining stockpile by the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty commitment of Sept. 30, 2023. U.S. Public Law 99-145 mandates stockpile destruction by Dec. 31, 2023.