• The last chemical weapon stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot was destroyed in the main plant July 7, 2023. This milestone also means the destruction of the nation’s declared chemical weapons stockpile is complete. The main plant used neutralization to destroy the nerve agent munitions.
• Overall, more than 101,000 projectiles and rockets containing 523.4 tons of chemical agent, including VX and GB nerve agent and mustard agent, were destroyed.
• The main plant is in the closure phase, which is expected to take approximately three years. During closure, caustic water solution created during the decontamination of equipment, along with non-agent-contaminated rocket motors, both of which are considered secondary waste, are being shipped off site for final destruction. Plant closure also involves decontamination and decommissioning of facilities and equipment, disposition of property, demolition of facilities not required for future U.S. Army use, and closure of government contracts and environmental permits in accordance with laws and regulations.
• The safety of the workforce, community and environment continues to be the plant’s highest priority during the closure phase.

• This Month:
  • Continued using remote-controlled robots to remove floor coatings, a thin layer of concrete under the coatings, and steel-reinforced concrete pedestals.
  • Began conducting ventilated monitoring tests.
  • Continued decommissioning Explosive Containment Rooms and other areas.
  • Shipped the last uncontaminated rocket motors for destruction in a Static Detonation Chamber (SDC) at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama.
  • Completed removal of agent-collection tanks in the Agent Neutralization System Room.
  • Began shipping Enhanced On-site Containers off-site for recycling.
  • Continued decontaminating metal equipment parts in the Metal Parts Treater.
  • Continued waste management activities.

• The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) is using the SDC 2000 unit to destroy secondary waste, such as containerized rocket warheads containing GB nerve agent residue.

• This Month:
  • As of April 28, 40.6% of more than 51,000 containerized rocket warheads containing residual amounts of GB nerve agent has been destroyed.
  • Hosted quarterly inspection by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
  • Continued planned maintenance on off-gas treatment system, detonation chamber, quench tower and other systems.

• The Blue Grass SDC 1200 is destroying secondary waste, including containerized rocket warheads containing VX nerve agent residue.

• This Month:
  • As of April 28, 28.5% of more than 17,000 containerized rocket warheads containing residual amounts of VX nerve agent has been destroyed.
  • Used planned and unplanned outages to repair destruction chamber alignment and to perform preventative maintenance on the quench tower filtration system, thermal oxidizer, off-gas treatment system and other systems.
  • Submittal of final test report to the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (KDEP) expected in May 2024.

The next Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board meeting will be held on Sept. 4, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. ET at the following location:

Carl D. Perkins Building, Rooms A and B
Eastern Kentucky University
Richmond, Kentucky

A live video stream of the meeting will be available on the Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA) YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/usaeacwa and the PEO ACWA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/peoacwa. For information, contact the Blue Grass Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office at (859) 626-8944 or bgoutreach@iem.com.