Laboratory freezers purchased by the Pueblo plant during the COVID-19 pandemic to store employee vaccinations have found new homes in the science departments of local higher education institutions.
“I love seeing something good come from COVID-19,” said Walton Levi, site project manager, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP). “Because we are near the end of our mission in Pueblo, our property disposition process allows us to give back to the local community and future generations of science-oriented students,” he said. ”Science, technology, engineering and math played a crucial role in PCAPP’s ability to complete stockpile destruction here in Colorado.”
The freezers were donated to the Chemistry Department at Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) and the Biological and Physical Sciences Department at Pueblo Community College (PCC). The equipment was no longer needed at PCAPP, which has been in the closure phase following the completion of destruction of the chemical weapons stockpile in Colorado in June 2023.
Cassidy Dobson, associate professor of chemistry, CSU Pueblo, said the freezer will benefit her own research as well as the training of students taking chemistry and biochemistry lab courses. The biochemistry labs she teaches will use the freezer to store reagents such as enzymes and other proteins used in experiments.
“Keeping these reagents at low temperatures ensures they stay stable and hold their integrity over the life of the experiments we are conducting,” she said. “This donation means so much not just to me and my research, but it also allows me to continue to train the next generation of scientists.”
Shanda Vidmar, assistant chair of biological and physical sciences, PCC, said the donation of the freezer represents an expense that would otherwise be beyond the department’s financial reach.
“The industrial freezer, with its capability to maintain super low temperatures, would be unattainable without philanthropic support,” Vidmar said. “Regular and in-kind donations like this empower us to continue providing high-quality education and research opportunities to our students.”
The dispositioning of equipment is one of five major activities of plant closure that also include decontamination, decommissioning, demolition and administrative closeout.
