The Bechtel Pueblo Team, the systems contractor selected to design, build, test and operate the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, was awarded the contract to manage closing the plant this summer and closure planning has already begun.

“We are now authorized to plan for and execute closure once the last 4.2-inch mortar round has been processed,” said Gordon Dover, closure manager, Bechtel Pueblo Team.

The contract outlines the scope of work for the first phase of closure activities.  These include decommissioning the plant, decontaminating any areas that may have encountered agent, cleanup of areas that did not encounter agent, and the disposal of government property. The first phase of closure does not include demolition of the plant.

Closure activities as outlined in the contract will conclude 30 months after the final mortar round is destroyed, Dover said.

“It’s taken approximately two years to be at this point,” Dover said. “But now we have a team dedicated to closure.”

PEO ACWA is targeting completion of the destruction of the remaining U.S. chemical weapons stockpile by the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty commitment of Sept. 30, 2023. The total closure of the plant concludes in 2026.