Workers at the Pueblo plant’s Static Detonation Chamber complex achieved three records as they surpassed the destruction of more than 40,000 4.2-inch mortar rounds in March.

“Our team is really focused and in tune with how we operate safely and efficiently, and it’s paying off for us,” said Troy Worthen, SDC plant manager, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

In March, the SDC complex set three new records: a one-day record of 263 mortar rounds destroyed on March 30, a one-month record for destruction, and a record daily average of 194 rounds destroyed per day. In addition, the SDC workforce destroyed 6,011 4.2-inch mortar rounds in March, which surpassed the previous best month total of 5,139 in December 2022. These records came while operating at 75% capacity due to permit restrictions.

Worthen attributed much of the success to the SDC team constantly improving in both operations and maintenance in organizing and minimizing downtime events. He said that since the start of SDC operations in February 2022, the team has continuously improved the monthly destruction numbers by coming up with ideas to complete outages more efficiently.

“We have made several improvements along the way to help minimize downtime, such as using solid seals on the destruction chamber locking ring, which has been a game-changer for us,” Worthen said.

The next campaign for the SDC complex will be the destruction of more than 400 reject and leaker overpacks that could not be processed in the main plant. This campaign is expected to begin after permitting approval is received from state regulators.