Pueblo Plant One-Year Destruction Anniversary: Looking Back and Forward

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PU_EndofOps_22June23_OPSECSafetyApproved_6314_edit-1-scaled

The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workforce and partners celebrate the June 22, 2023, destruction of the final munition in the chemical weapons stockpile previously stored at the U.S Army Pueblo Chemical Depot. The plant now is in its closure phase, which is expected to take approximately three years.

EDOevent

EDOevent

Nearly 700 Pueblo community members and partners celebrated the end of agent destruction operations at an Aug. 30, 2023, public ceremony that featured congratulatory remarks from federal, state and local officials.

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PU_APB-MWS_#1_SURGEDRUM_02_May24_OPSECandSafetyApproved

A worker lifts a surge drum from its pedestal in the Munitions Washout System in preparation for its disposal. Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workers have been fully engaged in decontamination and disassembly of the plant since approval of the main plant closure plan by state regulators on March 29, 2024.

EDOevent

EDOevent

Nearly 700 Pueblo community members and partners celebrated the end of agent destruction operations at an Aug. 30, 2023, public ceremony that featured congratulatory remarks from federal, state and local officials.

PU_APB-MWS_#1_SURGEDRUM_02_May24_OPSECandSafetyApproved

PU_APB-MWS_#1_SURGEDRUM_02_May24_OPSECandSafetyApproved

A worker lifts a surge drum from its pedestal in the Munitions Washout System in preparation for its disposal. Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workers have been fully engaged in decontamination and disassembly of the plant since approval of the main plant closure plan by state regulators on March 29, 2024.

One year after overseeing the safe end to the stockpile of obsolete chemical weapons stored for decades at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, plant managers and community leaders are looking back with pride on the accomplishment and forward with confidence as they forge on through closure.

The final munition in the Colorado stockpile was destroyed on June 22, 2023. More than 2,613 U.S. tons of chemical agent were destroyed at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant using technologies that had never been attempted on such a mass scale.

“The neutralization, as opposed to incineration, of a large chemical weapons stockpile was a tremendous achievement, a case study in innovation, technology, dedication and engineering that no one had accomplished before,” said Walton Levi, site project manager, PCAPP.

More than 780,000 chemical munitions were destroyed in Colorado from 2015 to 2023 by a workforce who recorded 12 million hours without a lost-time incident.

“When I look back at the significant effort required to eliminate nearly 800,000 mustard agent-filled munitions—and to do it safely—it gives me a sense of pride in the workforce, as they were vested in finishing this project safely and as efficiently as possible,” said Todd Ailes, project manager, Bechtel Pueblo Team. “Bechtel partnered with the Pueblo community, Amentum, Battelle and GP Strategies with a collective commitment to seeing this project through closure, making the world, the state and the community safer.”

After a public celebration of the milestone in August 2023 in downtown Pueblo, project leaders looked forward to closing the 85-acre agent-destruction site in accordance with all laws and regulatory requirements and, ultimately, returning the land to Pueblo County citizens. The current and last phase for the Pueblo plant, closure, is expected to take approximately three years and includes:

  • Disposal of secondary wastes
  • Decontamination and decommissioning of facilities and equipment
  • Disposition of property
  • Demolition of some facilities
  • Close-out of contracts and environmental permits
  • Archiving of records

Plant personnel spent the final months of 2023 honing details of a closure plan that required approval by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, received March 29, 2024.

Irene Kornelly, chair, Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission, said she is particularly proud that the entire demilitarization project was protective of human health and the environment, which will continue throughout the closure process. She said the high standards for cleanup required by state regulators and the diligence required by the closure plan will ensure the state will not have to return in the future.

“We will have a complicated cleanup here in Pueblo as we prepare the land for future community use,” she said. “Our goal is to protect people from harm throughout all the stages of that cleanup and beyond.”

The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workforce and partners celebrate the June 22, 2023, destruction of the final munition in the chemical weapons stockpile previously stored at the U.S Army Pueblo Chemical Depot. The plant now is in its closure phase, which is expected to take approximately three years.
The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workforce and partners celebrate the June 22, 2023, destruction of the final munition in the chemical weapons stockpile previously stored at the U.S Army Pueblo Chemical Depot. The plant now is in its closure phase, which is expected to take approximately three years.
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