The continued focus on safety of workers, the community and the environment during closure activities has the laboratory team busy at the Blue Grass plant.

“We’re as busy or busier now than we were during actual weapons destruction,” said Steve Downing, laboratory manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass (BPBG). “The agent monitoring systems are still online at the main plant, as well as both Static Detonation Chamber units, and additional samples have been required to support the closure team.”

Before these systems can be permanently shut down, the buildings and equipment have to be decontaminated and decommissioned. Every step of the way, the laboratory teams carry out air monitoring tests to validate cleanliness. The results of these tests must be approved by the U.S. Army and the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, Downing said.  

Laboratory staff members conduct more than 15,000 analyses a month on air, liquid and solid samples. They also are responsible for maintaining the agent air monitoring equipment inside and outside the plant, which includes daily controls to ensure the Miniature Continuous Air Monitoring System, or MINICAMS, devices are operating properly.

For example, samples must be taken, tested and reported every five minutes for GB nerve agent and every eight minutes for VX nerve agent from more than 200 MINICAMS placed throughout the plant. That equates to more than 20 million samples a year. Similarly, emissions from the plant’s air stacks are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Downing said.

“We’re watching or testing all the time,” said Downing. “It’s near real-time monitoring on the site and off the site for worker safety, for everyone’s safety, and to demonstrate compliance with our environmental permit.”

The current estimated schedule has the laboratory crew certifying facility decontamination complete in late 2025 and fully shutting down the laboratory in the spring of 2026.