Employment at the Blue Grass plant has fallen below 1,000 as closure milestones are achieved and workers prepare to transition into future roles.
“In addition to making the community and nation a safer place, a legacy of the project will be the highly skilled, hardworking people who made it happen, many of whom will continue to work and raise their families in the area,” said Shannon Pendergrass, site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, or BGCAPP.
“While it’s sad to say goodbye as we begin winding down our mission, I am proud to be able to share the talents of our workforce with other companies and projects,” said Joe Curcio, project manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, or BPBG.
The Blue Grass plant first exceeded 1,000 employees in September 2012 as construction was ramping up, Curcio said. The workforce hit its peak of 1,491 employees in September 2022 as the main plant was destroying M55 rockets containing VX and GB nerve agent, and retrofitting of the Static Detonation Chamber, or SDC, 1200 and construction of the SDC 2000 were underway.
With an eye on the end of the weapons destruction phase and the start of closure activities, the BPBG team began offering career transition services for employees in April 2023. The effort has included job fairs with local and state companies along with workshops on resume writing and interviewing as well as new skills training to help workers transition to new positions once their BGCAPP jobs end.
As closure continues, more workers will leave the project, with the next large group of approximately 250 exiting in late summer 2025. That will bring the workforce below 600, and it will fall to about 150 before the final closeout.
Demolition of facilities is expected throughout 2026 and into 2027.
