The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) is destroying the remaining U.S. chemical weapons stockpile at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) in Colorado. The original stockpile consisted of approximately 780,000 total chemical weapons containing mustard agent. The Colorado stockpile initially comprised three chemical munition types: 155mm and 105mm projectiles and 4.2-inch mortar rounds. The first two campaigns are complete. The remaining 4.2-inch mortar round campaign is expected to end by the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty commitment date of Sept. 30, 2023. U.S. public law mandates stockpile destruction by Dec. 31, 2023.

Project Update:

• As of April 28, PCAPP has destroyed more than 755,000 munitions or 96.79% of the original chemical weapons. Just over 24,000 munitions remain before chemical weapons destruction operations are complete.
• In April, PCAPP Treaty and Laboratory employees tagged and verified the last agent samples to be approved by international inspectors, marking another milestone of the destruction process.
• On April 17, Walton Levi, site project manager, PCAPP, presented an update to members of the Pueblo Rotary Club. May community presentations will include the Military Affairs Committee of the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce and the Pueblo Lions Club. 

Main Plant Update:

• The Pueblo plant received approval from state regulators in April to destroy 4.2-inch mortar rounds filled with HD mustard agent in the main plant. The news to move forward with the HD campaign came shortly after the main plant completed the destruction of 4.2-inch mortar rounds filled with HT mustard agent March 31. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved the results of the 5,000th HD mortar washout verification mid-month. Following that approval, the main plant workforce proceeded to safely destroy more than 7,200 4.2-inch HD mortar rounds in April.

Static Detonation Chamber Update:

• More than 5,000 4.2-inch mortar rounds were destroyed at the Static Detonation Chamber (SDC) complex in April. The SDC team continued to process the HD mortars at 75% capacity.

Closure-Related Activities:

• On April 26-27, PCAPP offered an on-site job fair that featured more than 60 corporate representatives from Bechtel, Amentum, Battelle and GP Strategies providing employees with information about their project locations and future job opportunities.
• The Pueblo Workforce Center continues to host Transition Help Tuesdays every week, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Breckenridge Conference Room at PCAPP. One-on-one sessions are offered to employees, providing guidance and information for employment transition, including resume review, workshops, access to LinkedIn Learning and career coaching programming.

The May Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission (CAC) meeting will be held online on May 31 at 3 p.m. MDT.

Individuals interested in joining online may participate using the link and information below.

To join by computer:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84432791550
To join by phone, call: 1 (719) 359-4580

Meeting ID:  844 3279 1550#

The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) is a facility built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. The main plant uses neutralization followed by biotreatment and is supplemented by SDC units to destroy the remaining mustard agent in 4.2-inch mortar rounds. The safety of the workforce, neighboring communities and the environment is the project’s priority.