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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)
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  • PEO ACWA
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      Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)

      Mission: Destroy Chemical Weapons Stockpile

      Vision: Chemical Weapons Free by 2023

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  • BLUE GRASS
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      Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP)

      BGCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Kentucky.

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  • PUEBLO
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      Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP)

      PCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.

    • PCAPP Homepage
      • Project Stages
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  • Inside the Agent Processing Building of the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, an ordnance technician stands watch as another uses a munitions handling lift assist unit to place disassembled 155mm projectiles onto a conveyor for neutralization processing. The Pueblo plant has entered its operations phase after successfully completing a lengthy pilot testing period.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Transitions From Pilot Testing Into Full Operations
    July 17, 2019
  • Walton Levi, who has been serving as acting site project manager, will fill the position on a permanent basis.
    READ MORE
    Acting Site Project Manager at Pueblo Plant Named to Permanent Post
    July 2, 2019
  • Col. Michael W. Cobb, left, takes command of the Pueblo Chemical Depot from Col. Christopher A. Grice, right, as Col. Kelso C. Horne III, U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity director, center, oversees a change of command ceremony June 26 at the Depot. Col. Cobb becomes the Depot’s 38th commanding officer.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Chemical Depot Welcomes New U.S. Army Commander
    July 2, 2019
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap – June 2019
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - June 2019
    June 28, 2019
  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee members inspect equipment during a tour of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This organization recently completed a study on the plant’s supercritical water oxidation system.
    READ MORE
    Study Released on Secondary Process Performance
    June 28, 2019
  • Thumbnail for PCAPP Monthly Recap - June 2019
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - June 2019
    June 27, 2019
  • Dr. Candace Coyle
    READ MORE
    Program Head Introduces New Site Project Manager
    June 26, 2019
  • Workers build scaffolding for inspection and repair of two 30-Day Hydrolysate Storage Tanks at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Routine inspection in May found seeping from “weep holes” designed to alert the plant to issues with the tanks, shutting down processing of the wastewater that results from chemical neutralization of mustard agent.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Resumes Chemical Agent Destruction
    June 21, 2019
  • Col. Lewis McBride is shown holding a tear gas gun, 1924. Behind him is the 4.2-inch chemical mortar he refined at his machine shop, Edgewood Arsenal, 1924. (Photo contributed by the Army Chemical Review).
    READ MORE
    Army Colonel Remembered for Refining the 4.2-inch Mortar
    June 20, 2019
  • Munitions handlers place the first 155mm mustard-agent filled projectile slated for destruction into a feed box June 7. The projectile was automatically fed into the Static Detonation Chamber at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant and destroyed the same day. (Image taken from closed-circuit television.)
    READ MORE
    Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpile Begins at Blue Grass Army Depot
    June 19, 2019
  • Construction workers prepare the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot’s former Explosive Destruction System site for construction of three Static Detonation Chambers that will aid the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in its mission to destroy aging chemical munitions
    READ MORE
    Static Detonation Chamber Construction Begins at Pueblo Plant
    June 19, 2019
  • The PCAPP Employee Club encourages members to devote time and energy to volunteer projects in the office at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant and beyond.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Employee Groups Drive Innovation
    June 17, 2019
  • Image: May 2019 BGCAPP monthly recap thumbnail
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - May 2019
    June 3, 2019
  • Madison County, Kentucky, residents listen to a presentation about the environmental assessment for the proposed action for processing nerve agent-filled munitions at the Blue Grass Army Depot at a May 21 public meeting. The public comment period for this action ends June 17.
    READ MORE
    Environmental Assessment Public Comment Period Open Through June 17
    May 31, 2019
  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks at an event May 29 to mark the start of chemical munitions destruction in Kentucky. The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is scheduled to begin destruction of mustard-agent projectiles in the Static Detonation Chamber within the next several weeks.
    READ MORE
    Stakeholders Recognize Start of Kentucky Chemical Weapons Destruction at Event
    May 31, 2019
  • During a Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program exercise held on May 8, 2019, a worker in a personal protective equipment suit practices emergency procedures during this annual event. This year, CSEPP exercise participants coordinated from the alternate Pueblo Community Joint Information Center site at the Pueblo Department of Health and Environment to test their ability to work from any location.
    READ MORE
    Alternate Site Used for Annual Emergency Response Exercise in Pueblo
    May 31, 2019
  • Image: May 2019 PCAPP monthly recap thumbnail
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - May 2019
    May 31, 2019
  • The Projectile Mortar Disassembly system arm in the Explosion Containment Room of the Enhanced Reconfiguration Building robotically disassembles munitions by removing their nose closures and bursters. The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant has three ECRs, one of which has returned to operation after being shut down for a mustard agent cleanup.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Regains a Containment Area After Thorough Cleanup
    May 23, 2019
  • The sun rises over the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant and munitions storage igloos on the Blue Grass Army Depot. The plant is hosting a public event May 29 to mark the start of chemical munitions destruction in Kentucky.
    READ MORE
    Public Welcomed to Event Marking Start of Chemical Weapons Destruction in Kentucky
    May 16, 2019
  • Munitions handlers lower a test projectile into a Static Detonation Chamber (SDC) loading box at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The SDC is in lockdown mode, where everything is being done as it will be during operations, scheduled to begin in late May.
    READ MORE
    Mustard Agent Destruction Facility Prepares for Operations
    May 16, 2019
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technicians perform Integrated Facilities Demonstration activities April 23. Workers at the Pueblo plant have been performing the IFDs to show proficiency at different tasks with the facilities operating as they were designed to run, with more planned in May.
    READ MORE
    Efficiencies in Munitions Processing Demonstrated at Pueblo Plant
    May 7, 2019
  • A plant support specialist explains Static Detonation Chamber details to Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons technical officials at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant April 1.
    READ MORE
    International Team Performs Final Review
    April 30, 2019
  • READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - April 2019
    April 26, 2019
  • READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - April 2019
    April 26, 2019
  • Georgia N., medical laboratory technician, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, analyzes a blood sample for a cholinesterase baseline at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    Research by Blue Grass Expert Helped Set Testing Standards
    April 19, 2019
  • An ordnance technician demonstrates a lift assist at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Training Facility during the April 9, 2019, visit by members of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Executive Council.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Hosts International Chemical Weapons Council
    April 16, 2019
  • Then Bechtel Pueblo Team Project Manager Brett Griebenow, left, appears at a Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission public meeting Feb. 27, 2019, with Ken Harrawood, right. Harrawood replaced Griebenow as PM at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in late March.
    READ MORE
    New Bechtel Pueblo Team Manager Keeps Momentum
    April 15, 2019
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant worker inspects 155mm projectiles Nov. 13, 2018, in the Agent Processing Building. With more than 660 U.S. tons of mustard agent destroyed, PCAPP has eliminated 25% of the chemical munitions stockpile that has been stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot since the 1950s.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Achieves Chemical Agent Destruction Milestone
    April 2, 2019
  • A still from closed-circuit video shows evidence of leaking liquid from a 155mm chemical projectile being disassembled for destruction at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Cameras help workers catch issues with aging munitions before mustard agent can spread through other areas the plant and delay processing for long.
    READ MORE
    Alert Pueblo Plant Workers Keep Downtime to a Minimum
    April 1, 2019
  • READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - March 2019
    March 29, 2019
  • READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - March 2019
    March 29, 2019
  • Nick Stamatakis, deputy program executive officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, speaks to attendees at a quarterly community meeting March 13 about the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s consideration of adding a second Static Detonation Chamber. This chamber will improve worker safety by being able to process overpacked rockets
    READ MORE
    Plant Considers Adding Destruction Equipment
    March 29, 2019
  • A technician sets up a Depot Area Air Monitoring System, or DAAMS, unit in a perimeter monitoring station on the Blue Grass Army Depot outside the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant footprint. This, and seven other monitoring stations on the depot, are being used to establish perimeter monitoring prior to chemical munitions destruction operations.
    READ MORE
    Plant Conducts Air Monitoring for Historical Record
    March 26, 2019
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Activity forklift driver loads a pallet of test projectiles into an Enhanced On-site Container for delivery to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Plant workers are training on the delivery process in preparation for certification as munitions delivery operators. (Photo courtesy Blue Grass Army Depot) (Items in this image have been blurred in accordance with Department of Defense guidelines.)
    READ MORE
    Crews Begin Training for Munitions Movement
    March 20, 2019
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Automated Guided Vehicle is used to transport munitions from the Enhanced Reconfiguration Building to the Agent Processing Building. The weight and turning radius of the AGVs has caused wearing of the epoxy coating in high traffic areas of the ERB, AGV Corridor and Munitions Body Storage Building.
    READ MORE
    Improvements Made to High Traffic Areas in Pueblo Plant
    March 20, 2019
  • Walton Levi, left, is serving as site project manager of the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) on an interim basis while Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program executive officer Michael Abaie, right, conducts a search for a permanent SPM.
    READ MORE
    Interim Site Project Manager Selected for Pueblo Plant
    March 13, 2019
  • PCAPP February 2019 Monthly Update
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - February 2019
    March 6, 2019
  • Technicians weigh a sample of chlorobenzene to calibrate a pump in preparation for surrogate testing at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The plant is using surrogate chemicals to be able to prove destruction of chemical agent.
    READ MORE
    Plant to Test Equipment with Agent Alternatives
    February 28, 2019
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap February 2019
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - February 2019
    February 28, 2019
  • Munitions handlers secure a conventional munition in a box prior to it being processed in the Static Detonation Chamber at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This test shot will commission the chamber for use in operations.
    READ MORE
    Crew Tests Equipment, Procedures with Conventional Munitions
    February 27, 2019
  • Bechtel Pueblo Team Plant Improvement Support Manager Paul Dent answers questions from Jesse Newland, Environmental Scientist, EPA Region 8, during a public meeting held to inform citizens on the proposed Static Detonation Chambers on Feb. 12, in Pueblo, Colorado.
    READ MORE
    Public Meetings Keep Citizens Informed
    February 25, 2019
  • First responders treat victims of a simulated explosion during a training exercise. The PCAPP Emergency Response Team, the PCAPP medical team, the Pueblo Chemical Depot and Soldiers from the U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division of Fort Carson participated in the event.
    READ MORE
    Exercise Tests Response of Pueblo Plant
    February 25, 2019
  • Michael Abaie, program executive officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, talks with Walton Levi, deputy site project manager, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, during the January Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission meeting.
    READ MORE
    Program Executive Officer Highlights Pueblo Plant Successes
    February 14, 2019
  • Monitoring technicians perform a challenge to air-monitoring equipment, known as MINICAMS, during the Agent Monitoring System Systemization Demonstration Test at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    Demonstration Shows Monitoring System Functions as Designed
    February 14, 2019
  • READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - January 2019
    February 5, 2019
  • READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - January 2019
    February 5, 2019
  • A worker directs crane operators as they unload a sideloader truck Jan. 18 that will be used to convey munitions transport containers inside the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant during operations.
    READ MORE
    Specialized Handling Equipment Arrives at Plant
    February 1, 2019
  • A Toxic Area Training participant in Demilitarization Protective Ensembles checks tags on valves in the Munitions Demilitarization Building as part of an exercise at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This training is now being conducted within the plant to provide realistic scenarios for participants.
    READ MORE
    On-Site Training Prepares Workers for Operations
    January 28, 2019
  • Toxic Area workers listen to a coordinator explaining the details of a training exercise at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Training is a strong safety focus as the plant ramps up to operations later this year.
    READ MORE
    Managers Look Forward to Active, Safe Year
    January 23, 2019
  • A flag raising ceremony on April 28, 2015 signified the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant award in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program for systemization. The plant received official approval for continued participation in the program for operations in December 2018.
    READ MORE
    Safety Award Renewed for Colorado Plant
    January 15, 2019
  • Palletized boxed munitions awaiting reconfiguration sit in the Munitions Service Magazine
    READ MORE
    Project Managers Look Forward to Fully Operating Plant in 2019
    January 15, 2019
  • Bechtel Pueblo Team project manager Bret Griebenow explains how the proposed Static Detonation Chamber would process 4.2-inch mortar rounds. Griebenow spoke to a local resident during one of three Static Detonation Chamber Environmental Assessment meetings held in September 2018.
    READ MORE
    Public Invited to February Permit Meetings
    January 15, 2019
  • Attendees listen as Terry Staggs, plant support specialist, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, discusses the history of the Blue Grass Static Detonation Chamber at a public meeting Dec. 12.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Experience Helps Sister Site in Colorado
    December 28, 2018
  • Jeff Brubaker, site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, and Ron Hink, project manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, provide a year-in-review update to Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board members Dec. 12.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Plant Managers Track Year’s Progress
    December 28, 2018
  • Ordnance technicians stand in the Agent Processing Building with plant manager Kim Jackson, right, to commemorate the start of Integrated Facility Demonstrations at the Pueblo plant.
    READ MORE
    A Year of Improvements and Results at Pueblo Plant
    December 28, 2018
  • READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - December 2018
    December 28, 2018
  • READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - December 2018
    December 28, 2018
  • A technician performs a smoke test in the Munitions Demilitarization Building at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This test allowed workers to find and seal air leaks within the building before performing a system demonstration procedure on the ventilation system.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Plant Demonstrates Main Air System
    December 20, 2018
  • A pallet of 155mm projectiles awaits destruction at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    Managers Note Plant Improvements, Results
    December 20, 2018
  • A team member looks at processed test munitions in the Static Detonation Chamber scrap conveyor at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    First Test Munitions Processed in Chamber
    December 14, 2018
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap: November 2018
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - November 2018
    December 6, 2018
  • PCAPP Monthly Recap: November 2018
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - November 2018
    December 6, 2018
  • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Threat Reduction and Arms Control, Dr. Charles J. Ball and Program Executive Officer Michael S. Abaie pose for a photo during the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives Assumption of Charter Ceremony Nov. 28 at the Chemical Demilitarization Training Facility, Edgewood Area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
    READ MORE
    Program Executive Officer Assumes Charter for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program
    November 29, 2018
  • A team member verifies receipt of Army training rockets at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Nov. 5. Previously stored at the Blue Grass Chemical Activity on the Blue Grass Army Depot, these rockets will be used to test rocket-handling equipment.
    READ MORE
    Plant Receives Army Training Rockets
    November 27, 2018
  • Ordnance technicians prepare for the first Integrated Facility Demonstration run by reviewing the procedure to ensure accuracy and compliance.
    READ MORE
    Plant Processing Rate High During First Demonstration Day
    November 16, 2018
  • Members of an Integrated Facility Demonstrations team pose for a photograph, signaling the start of the demonstrations.
    READ MORE
    Integrated Facility Demonstrations Begin
    November 15, 2018
  • A worker watches a television as a paramedic takes his blood for a Red Blood Cell Acetylcholinesterase (ChE) baseline record at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Worker ChE baselines are being prepared in the event a determination is needed for an unlikely chemical agent exposure.
    READ MORE
    Blood Draws Important for Worker Safety
    November 14, 2018
  • A pallet of mustard-filled 155mm projectiles awaits destruction in the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s Enhanced Reconfiguration Building.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Systems, Staff Prepared for Demonstration
    November 12, 2018
  • Members of the Colorado 2 Disaster Medical Assistance Team pose for a group photo near a mobile hospital set up to provide medical care to Florida residents affected by Hurricane Michael.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Employee Provides Disaster Relief
    November 8, 2018
  • READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - October 2018
    October 31, 2018
  • PCAPP Monthly Recap: October 2018
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - October 2018
    October 31, 2018
  • A government shift representative observes as Laboratory staff prepare to conduct a training exercise at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    Government Representatives Begin Around-the-Clock Shifts
    October 30, 2018
  • An analyst draws a sample of GB hydrolysate for testing purposes at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Laboratory. The Lab is testing with munitions-grade hydrolysate to prepare for upcoming operations.
    READ MORE
    Laboratory Tests Site-Specific Material
    October 25, 2018
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technicians work together to secure the hose from the biomass delivery truck. Biomass is an essential ingredient in the hydrolysate biodegration process.
    READ MORE
    Bioreactors Seeded with Biomass
    October 22, 2018
  • New Munitions Treatment Unit bin doors are among recent plant improvements thought to have contributed to increased throughput. The new doors have two-part swing hinges and are manually operated while the old doors were single panel, vertical lift that operated with powered drive and guide rails.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Experiences Increased Throughput
    October 19, 2018
  • A technician poses for a photo during M40 protective mask fitting at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. During operations, workers will be required to wear slung masks and don them in the unlikely event of a chemical-agent release.
    READ MORE
    Protective Masks Issued Ahead of Plant Operations
    October 19, 2018
  • PCAPP Monthly Recap: September 2018
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - September 2018
    October 2, 2018
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap: September 2018
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - September 2018
    October 1, 2018
  • Anniston Field Office Deputy Site Project Manager Leslie Ware explains how the proposed Static Detonation Chamber would process 4.2-inch mortar rounds.
    READ MORE
    Public Meetings Explain Environmental Assessment
    September 27, 2018
  • An area supervisor gives technicians instructions on how to operate Static Detonation Chamber (SDC) support equipment at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. SDC staff moved to 24/7 shifts Sept. 17 to support the operation of plant systems.
    READ MORE
    Some Facility Staff Shift to 24/7 Schedule
    September 27, 2018
  • Attendees listen as Jeff Brubaker, site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, provides information on a proposed change to the GB munitions processing order at a public meeting Sept. 12.
    READ MORE
    Manager Proposes Shift in Processing Plans
    September 27, 2018
  • A community advisory group member asks a question at a public meeting Sept. 12 during a discussion about the possibility of using the Blue Grass Static Detonation Chamber to destroy problematic nerve-agent munitions after the mustard munitions are processed.
    READ MORE
    Nerve Agent Testing Proposed for Static Detonation Chamber
    September 26, 2018
  • During Baseline Reconfiguration activities, ordnance technicians wear bright green, high visibility heel grounds over rubber boots to dissipate any static buildup.
    READ MORE
    Antistatic Gear Improves Safety
    September 20, 2018
  • An ordnance technician holds a propellant wafer following its removal from the back end of a 4.2-inch mortar round.
    READ MORE
    Mortar Rounds Freed of Propellant Wafers
    September 17, 2018
  • Jeremy S., training specialist, instructs two operators on the correct way to safely secure waste containers, during an emergency response training session June 27.
    READ MORE
    Joint Venture Company Receives National Safety Award
    September 13, 2018
  • Members of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission visit the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, Kentucky, for a firsthand look at the technology being considered for augmentation at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    Colorado Commission Observes Kentucky Detonation Chamber
    September 12, 2018
  • PCAPP Monthly Recap: August 2018
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - August 2018
    August 31, 2018
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap: August 2018
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - August 2018
    August 31, 2018
  • Reconfigured 4.2-inch mortar rounds await transfer to the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot for storage.
    READ MORE
    Environmental Assessment Public Meetings Scheduled
    August 31, 2018
  • The Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology shift plant manager explains the operation of the Static Detonation Chamber to plant staff Aug. 23. This equipment will process the Kentucky mustard munitions stockpile.
    READ MORE
    Static Detonation Chamber Equipment Now Operating in Remote Mode
    August 31, 2018
  • ACWA Program Executive Officer Suzanne Milchling speaks with Nathan Whittington, Emergency Management Program Specialist, Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, at a June 27, 2018 public meeting about chemical weapons destruction in Pueblo, Colorado.
    READ MORE
    Steady State Operations Key to Achieving Program Vision
    August 28, 2018
  • A Projectile/Mortar Disassembly (PMD) system is pictured during systemization activities with test equipment. The PMD ensures the safe and efficient removal of explosive components from chemical munitions.
    READ MORE
    Plant Restart Proving Successful
    August 23, 2018
  • Maintenance workers make a toxic area entry in Demilitarization Protective Ensemble to work on the Munitions Washout System. (Photo from closed-circuit video.)
    READ MORE
    First Two-Woman Entry Performed at Pueblo Plant
    August 15, 2018
  • (Inset) Jeff Brubaker, site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) as an intern with the Program Manager for Chemical Destruction around 1988. Brubaker explains the Munitions Washout System to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell at BGCAPP in 2013.
    READ MORE
    Project Lead Began Demilitarization Career as Intern
    August 13, 2018
  • Ross Vincent at a Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission meeting in 2014.
    READ MORE
    Colorado Advisory Commission Member Remembered
    August 6, 2018
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap: July 2018
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - July 2018
    August 3, 2018
  • PCAPP Monthly Recap: July 2018
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - July 2018
    August 3, 2018
  • Engineering students, from left, Nick Z., Adam C., Parker I., and Jonah T., review site plans as part of their many duties as Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant interns.
    READ MORE
    Interns Develop Skills, Participate in History
    August 3, 2018
  • Craig Williams, co-chair, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board (CDCAB), speaks about the potential for a Plan B for Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant hydrolysate processing at the June 13 Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and CDCAB meeting.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Manager, Community Group Discuss Wastewater Plans
    July 30, 2018
  • A technician watches as part of the Rocket Handling System is tested at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This system was turned over to operations earlier this year.
    READ MORE
    More Than Half of Blue Grass Systems Turned Over to Operations
    July 27, 2018
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant munition transporters stand in front of Modified Ammunition Vehicles to commemorate their 1,000th delivery of munitions from storage igloos to the plant.
    READ MORE
    1,000 Truckloads of Munitions Safely Moved
    July 24, 2018
  • Col. Joseph R. Kurz, left, assumed command of the Blue Grass Army Depot July 10. Lt. Col. Rodney D. McCutcheon, right, assumed command of the Blue Grass Chemical Activity June 14.
    READ MORE
    New Commanders Welcomed at Blue Grass
    July 23, 2018
  • A robotic arm places an inert munition into a Cavity Access Machine during training exercises at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The machines, which are a part of the Munitions Washout System, wash out chemical agent from munition bodies with high-pressure hot water.
    READ MORE
    Modifications Make Washout System More Efficient
    July 9, 2018
  • An Explosive Destruction System technician holds a sign in front of six 105mm problematic projectiles just before entering them into the vessel for a detonation, signaling the start of the second campaign for this destruction technology.
    READ MORE
    Explosive Destruction System Begins Second Campaign
    July 3, 2018
  • READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - June 2018
    July 2, 2018
  • PCAPP Monthly Recap: June 2018
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - June 2018
    July 2, 2018
  • A specialist works with an inert projectile in a sealed glove box during training exercises prior to a GB sampling operation at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
    READ MORE
    Specialists Conduct Nerve Agent Sampling Operation
    June 26, 2018
  • Jeff Brubaker, site project manager, presents the new Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives mission and vision statements at the June 13 Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board quarterly meeting.
    READ MORE
    Manager Highlights Vision and Mission at Public Meeting
    June 21, 2018
  • Ordnance technicians stand next to a pallet of reconfigured 155mm projectiles to commemorate the restart of agent operations at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant June 13.
    READ MORE
    Agent Operations Resume at Pueblo Destruction Facility
    June 15, 2018
  • A team lead listens as a Hazard Event Analysis Review Team member provides input to a main process system assessment at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant June 5.
    READ MORE
    Experts Take ‘HEART’ for Blue Grass Process Systems
    June 15, 2018
  • After tests showed a flex hose could withstand vibration and solids, it was installed on Agent Neutralization Reactor recirculation loops.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Poised to Regain Momentum
    June 13, 2018
  • BGCAPP Infographic: From Storage to Destruction
    READ MORE
    Infographic: Mission to Eliminate 523 Tons of Chemical Agent
    June 11, 2018
  • READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - May 2018
    June 5, 2018
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap: May 2018
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - May 2018
    June 4, 2018
  • Three members of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission visited the Anniston Field Office to get a firsthand look at technology being considered for munition augmentation at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Colorado Commission Observes Alabama Detonation Chamber
    May 31, 2018
  • Technicians work on a munitions transfer tray during operations procedure testing for 8-inch inert projectiles at the Munitions Washout System at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in May.
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    System Starts Processing 8-inch Test Projectiles
    May 25, 2018
  • Emergency Operations Center staff gather for a briefing regarding the scenarios played during the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program exercise on May 2.
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    Exercise Tests Emergency Response
    May 25, 2018
  • A weather enclosure around the 30-day Hydrolysate Storage Tanks will keep the tank area clear of debris and moisture during inclement weather and reduce associated impacts.
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    Lessons Lead to Improvements at Pueblo
    May 22, 2018
  • A worker installs a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system vent cover in the Munitions Demilitarization Building at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Team Works to Ensure Critical Balance
    May 18, 2018
  • Technicians prepare the air filtration system for its first run at the Explosive Destruction Technology facility at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Technicians Start Air Filtration System for First Time
    May 16, 2018
  • In 1941, U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot igloos were built using wooden forms, with rebar stretched over 2 x 2-foot steel pans to capture the placed concrete.
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    Magazines Built Decades Apart Protect Stockpile
    May 10, 2018
  • A drilling device is attached to an inert munition.
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    Partner Organization Supports Nerve Agent Sampling in Kentucky
    May 10, 2018
  • BGCAPP Monthly Recap: April 2018
    READ MORE
    BGCAPP Monthly Recap - April 2018
    May 3, 2018
  • PCAPP Monthly Recap: April 2018
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Monthly Recap - April 2018
    May 3, 2018
  • A technician checks the filtration media level in a water demineralization tank at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Water Systems Turned Over to Operations
    April 27, 2018
  • A safety team member hands an employee a pin reflecting a safety-culture belief at the first Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant safety fair.
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    Blue Grass Embraces Workplace Values
    April 24, 2018
  • A photograph from U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot archives shows a “lady soldier,” employed during World War II, picking up scrap with a magnetized bar underneath the tractor.
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    Student Exhibit Highlights Depot Women
    April 23, 2018
  • An attendee evaluates waste items as part of a waste-management exercise at the first annual Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant safety fair.
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    Employee Teams Conduct Safety Event
    April 18, 2018
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians open a wooden box containing a 4.2-inch mortar round.
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    Reconfiguration of Mortar Rounds Begins
    April 18, 2018
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians remove fiberboard tubes containing ACWA Test Equipment, or ATE, from wooden boxes and place them on an operator workstation.
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    Reconfiguration Team Demonstrates Technical Knowledge
    April 9, 2018
  • A Static Detonation Chamber vessel as it was being assembled at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, Alabama, in July 2011.
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    Two Static Detonation Chambers Proposed to Treat Problematic Rounds
    April 2, 2018
  • Isabel Waddell, senior performance assurance specialist, stands in the Personnel Support Building at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Pueblo Plant Volunteers Mentor Local Students
    March 30, 2018
  • A technician observes as a munitions tray moves down a conveyor before a formal Systemization Demonstration Procedure of the Tray Handling System at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Experts: 21 Systems Turned Over to Operations
    March 29, 2018
  • Craig Williams, co-chair, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board, provides information on assisting with developing a Plan B for hydrolysate processing at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant at a public meeting March 14.
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    Managers, Community Discuss Hydrolysate Contingency Options
    March 28, 2018
  • Plant managers discuss Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant dual-facility operations at a March 14 public meeting.
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    Blue Grass Mustard Munitions Destruction Schedule Accelerated
    March 26, 2018
  • Craig Williams, co-chair, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board, explains the formation of a new monthly working group to better respond to the faster-paced activities at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant at a public meeting in December 2017.
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    Demilitarization Community Board Forms New Working Group
    March 22, 2018
  • Oversight representatives watch as Control Room operators put the Energetics Batch Hydrolyzer system through its paces during its systemization demonstration procedure at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in February. (Note: Areas in this image have been blurred in accordance with Department of Defense directives.)
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    Major Neutralization System Passes Demonstration
    March 21, 2018
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician removes the rear assembly of a 4.2-inch simulated mortar round with the twin spindle removal machine.
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    Training Begins for 4.2-inch Mortar Rounds
    March 9, 2018
  • Training specialist Tom Bailey provides an overview of the type of munitions and associated components the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is destroying.
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    Pueblo Plant Recommended for Safety Recognition
    March 9, 2018
  • A safety engineer points out potential workplace hazards around a cryogenic nitrogen tank to a team of medical and industrial hygiene personnel at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Specialists Protect Plant Workforce from Physical Hazards
    March 7, 2018
  • A technician takes a reading on a thermal camera to determine if Metal Parts Treater (MPT) electromagnetic fields create hot spots in the MPT Room at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Key Blue Grass Systems Tested
    February 28, 2018
  • An ordnance technician unboxes the final 105mm projectile to be reconfigured. In total, baseline reconfiguration was performed on more than 28,000 projectiles.
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    Reconfiguration of Boxed 105mm Munitions Complete
    February 22, 2018
  • An industrial hygienist tests air within the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant as nitrogen is introduced to plant systems in January.
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    Nitrogen Introduced into Blue Grass Plant for First Time
    February 21, 2018
  • The Static Detonation Chamber is a heated, armored vessel capable of processing chemical agent-filled munitions.
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    Anniston Project Manager Explains Destruction Technology
    February 20, 2018
  • A Blue Grass Army Depot firefighter cleans up a simulated hydrolysate spill at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Laboratory as observers evaluate the activity Jan. 31.
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    Partners Practice Response in Integrated Spill Drill
    February 14, 2018
  • An engineer adjusts a setting on an aerosol generator that is used to test air filters at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Technicians Use Mist and Light to Test Filters
    February 7, 2018
  • The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Off-gas Treatment System treats gases from systems in the toxic area and destroys mustard agent through oxidation.
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    Efforts Continue to Bring Plant Back Online
    February 1, 2018
  • Corrosion to the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Off-gas Treatment System tube set.
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    Plant Staff Work Toward Solutions for Sustained Operations
    January 30, 2018
  • A multidisciplinary team participates in the Systemization Demonstration Procedure for the Energetics Neutralization System in the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant's Control Room.
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    Team Completes Demonstration of Key System
    January 30, 2018
  • In April 2015, members of the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Voluntary Protection Programs steering committee gathered in front of the Personnel Support Building with Brad Baptiste, regional VPP manager, fifth from right, to pose with the flag awarded by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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    Roadmap Paves Way to Safety Recertification
    January 26, 2018
  • Carl Reagan, toxic entry supervisor, watches as a toxic area entry trainee performs a task. Training tasks are designed to familiarize workers with wearing protective suits while performing their duties in areas of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant that will be contaminated during operations.
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    Depth of Experience Critical to Operations Training
    January 23, 2018
  • An ordnance technician uses a custom tool to remove an ignitor cartridge from an inert mortar round. Several tools, ranging from light and thin to strong and heavy, were made from metals that do not produce sparks.
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    First Year of Agent Destruction Tests Equipment and Workers
    January 8, 2018
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician uses a lift assist to place a 155mm munition onto a conveyor for delivery to the Explosion Containment Room for disassembly.
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    2017 Marks Full Year of Agent Destruction at Pueblo Plant
    January 8, 2018
  • Support workers assist in positioning a Toxic Area entry trainee on a suit sealing machine to safely seal him into his Demilitarization Protective Ensemble.
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    Protective Suit Sealer Ready for Operations
    December 28, 2017
  • Bob Stein, Battelle program manager, stands in front of the Personnel Support Building at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Stein Named Battelle Program Manager
    December 27, 2017
  • State Agency Opens Permit Public Comment Period
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    State Agency Opens Permit Public Comment Period
    December 27, 2017
  • A maintenance worker in a protective suit climbs the stairs in a simulated work environment during a training session.
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    Specialized Suits Protect Workers from Chemical Agent
    December 21, 2017
  • Attendees listen as Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant managers provide a project update at a public meeting Dec. 13.
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    Blue Grass Managers Cite Progress, Speak to Goals
    December 21, 2017
  • As they train in Demilitarization Protective Ensembles, maintenance technicians practice moving with their air hoses during the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s first Toxic Area Training Nov. 27-30. The training allows employees to practice entries for maintenance and other essential activities into areas of the plant that will be contaminated during operations.
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    First Toxic Area Training at Blue Grass Plant
    December 15, 2017
  • A technician watches as a dummy M55 rocket, in its shipping and firing tube, is positioned on the Rocket Cutting Machine at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. This system will separate the warhead from the rocket motor and deliver the parts for their next steps of processing.
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    Rocket Processing Equipment Put Through Its Paces
    November 30, 2017
  • Bret Griebenow, project manager, Bechtel Pueblo Team, right, hands out tokens of appreciation to Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant veterans during an appreciation event on Nov. 9.
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    Pueblo Plant Honors Its Veterans
    November 28, 2017
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians work to remove 105mm projectiles from wooden boxes and fiberboard tubes.
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    Reconfiguration of Boxed Munitions Nears Completion
    November 22, 2017
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant employees pose for a photograph with a Pueblo Cooperative Care Center client. PCAPP employees raised funds to purchase more than 200 turkeys for the local food bank.
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    Pueblo Plant Employees Dish Out Turkeys to Needy
    November 22, 2017
  • Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection inspectors and Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant environmental personnel observe as an Enhanced On-site Container munitions transport device is opened Nov. 7.
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    Oversight Agency Checks Munitions Transport Containers
    November 17, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Activity technician inspects projectiles stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot. To be able to work with the chemical materials, this worker was vetted through the U.S. Army’s Chemical Personnel Reliability Program.
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    U.S. Army Program Keeps Chemical Materials Safe
    November 17, 2017
  • Bret Griebenow, project manager, Bechtel Pueblo Team, poses for a portrait.
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    Bechtel Pueblo Team Welcomes New Manager
    November 17, 2017
  • Waste operators, with the help of entry support area tenders, prepare for their first entry using the new supplied-air and escape breathing apparatus system. The operators entered the toxic maintenance area to characterize, package and drum old hoses.
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    New Air System Introduced at Pueblo Plant
    November 2, 2017
  • Corroded munitions from the Pueblo chemical weapons stockpile lay on a conveyor at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Reject munitions like this, which cannot be easily processed by the plant’s automated equipment, will be destroyed by the Explosive Destruction System.
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    Aging Munitions Cause Operational Hurdles
    October 31, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant team member slides a carbon filter into place in one of the Munitions Demilitarization Building filter banks. This filter is designed to trap substances that could otherwise volatilize or evaporate into the air.
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    Organic Air Emissions Topic of Kentucky Public Meeting
    October 30, 2017
  • A pipefitter files a column in preparation for welding a cable-tray support at the Explosive Destruction Technology site at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The facility is out of lay-up after supplemental funding was received in fiscal year 2017.
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    Experts Renew Efforts at Blue Grass Mustard Destruction Project
    October 26, 2017
  • As seen from Control Room monitors, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technicians work together to perform their first dual entry into the Agent Processing Building toxic area.
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    Dual Entry Marks Pueblo Plant Milestone
    October 17, 2017
  • Guy Campbell, assistant project manager for plant management, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, stands outside the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s Control and Support Building. Campbell joined the project in July.
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    Blue Grass Plant Welcomes New Assistant Project Manager
    October 13, 2017
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant team members operate a specialized lifting device to safely load carbon filter trays in the main plant filter banks. The lift system was designed to keep workers safe from this repetitive heavy-lifting task.
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    Specialized System Assists in Repetitive Task
    October 11, 2017
  • Lt. Col. Scott Gould, commander, Blue Grass Chemical Activity, responds to questions during a mock press conference as part of the annual emergency preparedness exercise Sept. 20.
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    Partners Participate in Emergency Preparedness Exercise
    September 27, 2017
  • Personal protective equipment specialist Marty Smith wears the protective mask which is a component of the redesigned supplied-air subassembly and emergency escape breathing system. A green light indicates a full air cylinder with an uninterrupted line.
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    Redesigned Air Pack Protects Workforce
    September 27, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant startup team member and a contractor test a robot as it moves a hopper in the Explosive Containment Room. The plant has 59 independent systems that must be integrated and tested during the systemization phase.
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    Plant Enhancements Prompt Permitting Updates
    September 26, 2017
  • Control Room operators run the Agent Neutralization System systemization demonstration procedure as government observers take note. The system completed demonstration ahead of schedule on Aug. 30.
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    Team Demonstrates Agent Neutralization System
    September 20, 2017
  • Suzanne Milchling, program executive officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, speaks with community members during the Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board meeting Sept. 13.
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    New Program Leader Meets Kentucky Community
    September 20, 2017
  • A boom lifts a plant operator onto a tanker to assist in transferring wastewater from a 30-day Hydrolysate Storage Tank into the tanker for transport from the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant to Veolia Environmental Services Hazardous Waste Incinerator, Port Arthur, Texas.
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    Off-Site Shipment of Wastewater Complete
    September 14, 2017
  • A medical intern listens to heart sounds, demonstrating the use of an advanced life support mannequin to a co-worker during the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s safety fair. The mannequin is a tool used by the PCAPP medical team to practice care.
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    Fair Teaches Safety through Interactive Learning
    September 14, 2017
  • Workers install the cap on the ventilation stack for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Control and Support Building Filter Bank in 2013. Today, the CSB heating, ventilation and air conditioning system has passed its systemization demonstration procedure and will be turned over to operations.
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    Air-Handling System Passes Test
    September 11, 2017
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians and project leadership pose for a picture just before the first munition was processed through the plant Sept. 7, 2016.
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    Pueblo Plant Completes First Year of Pilot Testing
    September 8, 2017
  • PCAPP: From Storage to Destruction
    READ MORE
    Mission to Eliminate 2,613 Tons of Agent
    September 7, 2017
  • Claire Ackley, a Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant medical intern, poses for a portrait.
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    Core Principle Extends Beyond Pueblo Worksite
    September 1, 2017
  • Rick Holmes, Bechtel Pueblo Team project manager, looks at the camera just after being fitted for a protective mask by Jeff Hotchkiss, personal protective equipment technician.
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    Proper Mask Fit Protects Workers from Hazards
    August 29, 2017
  • An observer watches a projectile tray move down the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Tray Handling System as part of a demonstration procedure. This system was turned over to operations Aug. 1.
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    Conveyor System Turned Over to Operations
    August 23, 2017
  • A personnel protective equipment technician attaches flex tools to an M40A1 mask for testing with the Defense Chemical Testing Equipment, Protective Mask Leakage Tester. Flex tools are used to manipulate the mask underneath a hood that is filled with smoke to ensure the mask and components are leak free.
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    Mask Testing Ensures Maximum Workforce Protection
    August 23, 2017
  • A technician demonstrates a device that will drill and tap projectiles to extract GB agent for Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Laboratory analytical optimization and development needs.
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    Blue Grass to Use Custom Device for Agent Sampling
    August 18, 2017
  • Wade Hollinger, deputy site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, explains the public participation process to an attendee at a July 19 permit modification public meeting.
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    Blue Grass Holds GB Sampling Public Meeting
    August 18, 2017
  • After: The result of Static Detonation Chamber deflagration is scrap metal.
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    Static Detonation Chamber Deflagrates Energetics
    August 18, 2017
  • Suzanne Milchling, program executive officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, asks a question about projectile processing during a Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant tour Aug. 2.
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    New Program Leader Visits Blue Grass Plant
    August 16, 2017
  • The first tanker of wastewater from the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is positioned for offloading into storage tanks as the first step in its disposal at the Veolia Environmental Services Hazardous Waste Incinerator in Port Arthur, Texas.
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    First Off-Site Shipment of Wastewater Successful
    August 11, 2017
  • Plant operators connect a hose to a tanker to begin the process of transferring wastewater from a 30-day Hydrolysate Storage Tank.
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    Temporary Off-Site Shipment of Wastewater Begins
    August 1, 2017
  • A robotic arm places a munition into a Cavity Access Machine (CAM) during training exercises at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. CAMs, which are a part of the Munitions Washout System, wash out chemical agent from munition bodies with high-pressure, hot water.
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    Washout System Tested for Optimal Performance
    July 28, 2017
  • Using a scale model for reference, a scientist points out details of a glovebox that will be fabricated and later used to monitor M55 rockets for chemical-agent contamination in the Unpack Area of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Munitions Demilitarization Building. The model was constructed to demonstrate the size, function and location of the glovebox within the room.
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    Engineers Design Munitions-Monitoring Equipment
    July 28, 2017
  • Kim Jackson, plant manager, third from left, describes overpacked, palletized munitions to Suzanne Milchling, program executive officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, as Rick Holmes, project manager, left, and Scott Shannon, ordnance technician and escort, look on. Milchling toured the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant on July 18.
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    Program Executive Officer Visits Pueblo Plant
    July 20, 2017
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technicians navigate an airlock room in a Demilitarization Protective Ensemble with supplied air. Beginning on July 7, air hose sampling for mustard agent permeation was reduced from every 12 hours to every 24 hours, after data showed the reduction would not negatively impact the health and safety of entrants.
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    Pueblo Technicians Streamline Air Monitoring
    July 20, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Army Depot firefighter rappels down a wall inside the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant as part of a high-angle rescue training exercise. In the case of a rescue at altitude at the plant, the depot will handle rescue and extraction while plant medical staff will provide medical care.
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    Blue Grass Emergency Response Teams Train for High-Angle Rescues
    July 17, 2017
  • Blue Grass Chemical Activity workers inspect an igloo housing M55 rockets. The rockets are contained in shipping and firing tubes, which may contain polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs.
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    Blue Grass Plant to Hold Environmental Permitting Meeting July 20
    July 14, 2017
  • A technician uses a glove box to obtain chemical agent samples during Operation Swift Solution in December 2008. Experts will use a glove box much like this to obtain samples from 8-inch GB projectiles for Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Laboratory monitoring testing purposes.
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    Blue Grass Plant Submits Request to Sample Munitions
    June 29, 2017
  • A Laboratory technician injects a sample to test Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant filter-bank monitoring equipment in June 2017.
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    Personnel Prepare for Blue Grass Filter Bank Detector Test
    June 27, 2017
  • Community members listen to presentations regarding Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant progress at the Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board meeting June 14.
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    Blue Grass Plant Leader Outlines Systemization Focus
    June 23, 2017
  • A scientist works on a gas chromatograph machine in the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Laboratory to perform analysis on a sample being tested for Depot Area Air Monitoring System chemical-agent interference.
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    Blue Grass Lab Tests Rule Out Chemical Interference
    June 22, 2017
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician uses a lift assist to place a 155mm munition onto a conveyor for delivery to the Explosive Containment Room for disassembly.
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    Colorado Plant Achieves Munition Processing Milestone
    June 22, 2017
  • A waste operator moves palletized polyurethane drums containing secondary wastes. Each pallet contains four 55-gallon drums.
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    Strict Guidelines for Pueblo Plant Secondary Wastes Provide Safety
    June 21, 2017
  • Sealed with weather-resistant covers, roll off bins, each containing approximately 25,000 pounds of salt cake, await transport to a permitted disposal facility.
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    Salt Cake Shipment Signifies Complete Plant Cycle
    June 21, 2017
  • Community members look over items no longer needed by the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, such as new and used tools, at the May 31 public viewing for the project’s first public auction of such items.
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    Blue Grass Plant Holds First Public Auction of Excess Items
    June 14, 2017
  • Systemization personnel tag Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Agent Collection System Room piping for ease of identification before performing a System Demonstration Procedure.
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    First Blue Grass Plant Agent System Turned Over to Operations
    June 8, 2017
  • A member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee on Chemical Demilitarization points out electrical conduit in the Munitions Demilitarization Building during a May 10 Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant tour.
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    Scientists Visit Blue Grass Plant
    June 6, 2017
  • Salt cakes in a roll off bin, produced from surrogate thiodiglycol at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in February 2016. Since May 23, seven roll off bins, each containing approximately 20,000 pounds of salt cakes, have been produced from biotreated effluent.
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    Pueblo Plant Water Recovery System Proving Effective
    June 1, 2017
  • Pictured are Immobilized Cell Bioreactors (ICB) at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The ICBs are successfully treating mustard agent hydrolysate.
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    Pueblo Plant Successfully Treating Hydrolysate
    May 24, 2017
  • An evaluator watches as Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technicians clean up a simulated caustic leak during an April drill.
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    Blue Grass Conducts First Caustic Leak Drill
    May 23, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant operator opens a valve to allow demineralized water to flow into the plant’s 40,000-gallon Process Water Tank.
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    Portable Purifier Cleans Blue Grass Plant Process Water
    May 23, 2017
  • The product of the chemical neutralization process at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is hydrolysate, a muddy-looking liquid that is mostly water.
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    Neutralization Effective in Destroying Chemical Agent
    May 11, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant systemization team member watches a Metal Parts Treater airlock door operate during testing in March. Thorough testing, observation and notation are key components of the Pilot Test Demonstration Plan, required by regulators before pilot testing can begin.
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    Blue Grass Team Begins Pilot-Test Plan
    May 9, 2017
  • An operator monitors a biomass feed from the Biotreatment Area Control Room at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Wastewater Introduced into Pueblo Plant Biotreatment System
    May 3, 2017
  • Three 30-day Hydrolysate Storage Tanks store wastewater before it is transferred to the plant’s Biotreatment Area to be further broken down.
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    Pueblo Plant Considers Off-Site Shipment of Wastewater
    May 2, 2017
  • Conrad F. Whyne (left) poses for a photo with his father, Aaron I. Whyne, 96, of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, after a ceremony marking the younger Whyne's retirement. Both men are Army Veterans. Aaron served in WWII, and Conrad's career spanned 10 years in uniform and 29 years as an Army Civilian.
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    Leader of Chemical Weapons Destruction Program Retires
    April 26, 2017
  • Baking soda, a buffer, is added to an Immobilized Cell Bioreactor (ICB) to regulate pH levels. ICB module two was seeded with biomass in anticipation of a hydrolysate batch feed April 19.
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    Bioreactor Seeding Begins at Pueblo Plant
    April 21, 2017
  • Craig Williams, co-chair, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board, speaks with Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Executive Council ambassadors at a Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant meet-and-greet event April 4.
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    Blue Grass, Partner Organizations Host International Ambassadors
    April 18, 2017
  • A scaffold enclosure surrounds Brine Concentrator Feed Tanks. The enclosure served as protection from weather during the installation of new coatings and will remain throughout plant operations to safeguard the coatings against inclement weather.
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    Secondary Containment System Liner Replaced at Pueblo Plant
    April 15, 2017
  • The Blue Grass Static Detonation Chamber in lay-up mode. This equipment will destroy the mustard munitions in the Blue Grass stockpile after main plant nerve-agent processing is complete.
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    Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology Receives Safety Approval
    April 13, 2017
  • In his final trip to Pueblo, Colorado, Program Executive Officer Conrad F. Whyne poses during a meeting with members of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission, U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant and PuebloPlex.
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    Program Leader Offers Words of Gratitude to Pueblo Community
    March 30, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technician in the Munitions Demilitarization Building communicates with a Control Room operator as they operate functions of the Rocket Shear Machine for the first time.
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    Technicians Test Blue Grass Rocket Shear Machine
    March 30, 2017
  • James Vera, human performance improvement specialist, wears a lanyard brimming with seven Cultural Belief pins as his supervisor, Gary McCloskey, deputy project manager, completes paperwork to recommend him for a Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant lapel pin, the final pin in the campaign.
    READ MORE
    Pin Campaign Encourages Use of Workplace Values
    March 24, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technician observes the rotation of one of the Energetics Batch Hydrolyzer drums during testing March 8.
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    Blue Grass Processing Equipment Makes First Move
    March 22, 2017
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant instrument and control technicians calibrate instrumentation in the Utility Building to ensure it functions as designed.
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    Blue Grass Technicians Calibrate Plant Instrumentation
    March 22, 2017
  • Conrad Whyne, program executive officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, center, talks with local community members after a quarterly public meeting in Richmond, Kentucky, March 8.
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    Program Leader Bids Bluegrass Farewell, Offers Advice for Future
    March 17, 2017
  • Terry House, member, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board, listens as Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant leadership present an update on project progress at a public meeting March 8.
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    Blue Grass Management Provides Schedule Update
    March 14, 2017
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant staff listen to Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives headquarters and Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant employees during a Lessons Learned Summit Feb. 28.
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    Blue Grass Team Looks to Sister Site, Toward Operations
    March 14, 2017
  • Johnny Lujan, ordnance technician, stands in front of a lift assist, a piece of equipment he routinely uses, at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Training Facility. He has been employed at the plant, in different capacities, since 2008.
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    Ordnance Technician Laid Foundation for Current Job
    March 6, 2017
  • A munition, used in high heel testing, sits on the Munition Treatment Unit discharge conveyor. Its paint was cooked off, down to metal, which is not typical for normal processing and is indicative of heel being present in the munition.
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    Heel Test Anticipates Plant Washout System Failures
    February 28, 2017
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant mechanical fire technician talks to Control Room personnel as he checks electronic signals between the plant and the Blue Grass Army Depot satellite fire station during fire-alarm testing in the Munitions Demilitarization Building west filter house Feb. 21.
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    Blue Grass Technicians Test Plant Fire-Alarm Systems
    February 24, 2017
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Acquisition Services personnel check inventory numbers on piping that will be sold at public sales in spring 2017.
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    Blue Grass Teams Work Together to Reduce Project Costs
    February 22, 2017
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) paramedics look at their letters of commendation after receiving U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command recognition Feb. 13 for their response to a medical emergency on the BGCAPP site in November 2016.
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    Blue Grass Paramedics Earn Army Recognition
    February 17, 2017
  • A Cavity Access Machine operates inside the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant after a splash guard was installed on the machine. Splash guards eliminate hours spent cleaning up contamination.
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    Solution Devised for Over-Pressurized Rounds
    February 17, 2017
  • Deputy Site Project Manager Walton Levi discusses the Record of Environmental (REC) Consideration with Luke Armstrong, sergeant, Colorado State Patrol, during the REC poster session held on Jan. 25.
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    Comment Period Open for Pueblo Plant’s Record of Environmental Consideration
    February 1, 2017
  • Workers unpack conventional munitions for a diagnostic scan at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
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    Officials: Kentucky Depot Has Lasting Mission
    January 30, 2017
  • A member of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant environmental team points out details to Army environmental assessment team members in the Energetics Batch Hydrolyzer Room Jan. 25.
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    Army Environmental Assessment Team Visits Blue Grass Plant
    January 30, 2017
  • Members of the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s Emergency Response Team decontaminate a mannequin as part of their training.
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    Fluorescein Sheds Light On Decontamination Skills
    January 27, 2017
  • Systemization team members are pressure-testing piping systems at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in preparation for operations.
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    Blue Grass Team Pressure Tests Plant Piping
    January 23, 2017
  • Dr. David R. Bradley, Leidos, left, discusses the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) Hydrolysate Transportation Risk Assessment at the Biotreatment Utilization Group meeting held on Jan. 18, as Col. Thomas Duncan, commander, Pueblo Chemical Depot, and Greg Mohrman, site project manager, PCAPP, review associated documents.
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    Study: Off-Site Shipment of Hydrolysate Deemed Safe
    January 23, 2017
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Brine Concentrator Feed Tanks (center) with Hydrolysate Holding Tanks (right).
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    Pilot Testing Resumes at Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Plant
    January 12, 2017
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician places a 155mm munition on a conveyor as part of the process of eliminating the agent-filled projectile.
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    2016 Marks Start of Operations at Colorado Pilot Plant
    December 30, 2016
  • After removing its agitator, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workers install a blind flange to one of three 30-day Hydrolysate Storage Tanks.
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    Plans Made to Resume Operations at Pueblo Pilot Plant
    December 30, 2016
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) technicians power down the hydraulic system for the Static Detonation Chamber as part of the postponement of the plant’s Explosive Destruction System.
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    Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology Postponed
    December 21, 2016
  • Jeff Brubaker, site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, provides a year-in-review update to Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board members Dec. 14.
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    Blue Grass Plant Leaders Track Year’s Progress, Preview 2017
    December 21, 2016
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant paramedics practice patient evaluation in the site ambulance.
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    Blue Grass Medical Staff Goes to 24/7 Response
    December 16, 2016
  • The Supplemental Decontamination Unit stands inside the Agent Processing Building of the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The system vaporizes agent from waste materials.
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    Heat Reduces Equipment, Waste Contamination at Pilot Plant
    December 14, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant employee chooses an ornament with a wish-list item written on it from the Soldier’s Angels tree. Chosen items were collected and donated to benefit deployed troops and veterans.
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    Blue Grass Team Donates to Benefit Soldiers
    December 14, 2016
  • Sharon Valle, government property administrator, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, received the Army’s Defense Acquisition Workforce Individual Achievement Award at the Pentagon Dec. 8 for her leadership and direction of the plant’s property management system.
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    Blue Grass Team Member Receives Army Acquisition Honor
    December 9, 2016
  • A multi-departmental team of Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technicians discusses programming the simulator that will be used to train Control Room operators.
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    Blue Grass Team Develops Simulator, Saves Project Funds
    December 7, 2016
  • Three 30-day storage tanks hold hydrolysate until enough is accumulated for transfer to Immobilized Cell Bioreactors, where it is further broken down.
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    Operations Paused at Pueblo Pilot Plant
    December 2, 2016
  • Bill Adams, Research and Development team leader, U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity Recovered Chemical Materiel Directorate, demonstrates how the door to the new Explosive Destruction System is sealed during a site tour by members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Standing Committee on Chemical Demilitarization.
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    Experts Meet, Review Program Progress
    November 30, 2016
  • Workers move a pallet of polyurethane drums containing contaminated waste greater than one Vapor Screening Level. The waste was trucked to Port Arthur, Texas, for incineration.
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    Demil Plant Secondary Waste Products Processed Off Site
    November 23, 2016
  • Buyer Steven Tinsley hands a turkey to local family, as Allison Snatchko, Earned Value Management System coordinator, looks on. PCAPP employees volunteered at Pueblo Cooperative Care Center, handing out turkeys purchased with funds they raised.
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    Turkey Time, Thanks to PCAPP Employees
    November 23, 2016
  • Wade Hollinger, deputy site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, provides project information to potential vendors at a Nov. 16 vendor forum.
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    Blue Grass Plant Hosts Vendor Forum
    November 23, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Army Depot firefighter rappels down the side of a Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant storage tank as part of a quarterly training activity.
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    Blue Grass Partners Perform High-Angle Rescue Training
    November 10, 2016
  • Technicians at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant pose for a portrait.
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    Colorado Community Serves Dual Military Roles
    November 10, 2016
  • A Control Room operator monitors the initial light-off process of the first Thermal Oxidizer (TOX) unit, part of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s pollution abatement system.
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    Blue Grass Plant Starts Thermal Oxidizer Light-Off Process
    November 3, 2016
  • Volunteers answer questions related to the Junkins Fire, a 28-square mile fire that destroyed nine homes. During that event, the Joint Information Center was active for almost three days and responded to 502 calls.
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    Emergency Preparedness Training Aids in Fire Response
    November 3, 2016
  • A gas chromatography/flame photometric detector/mass selective detector operator explains the Gas Chromatograph analysis process to an Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inspector.
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    International Inspectors Monitor Weapons Destruction at Colorado Plant
    October 31, 2016
  • Munitions handlers attach a Miniature Continuous Air Monitoring System hose to a Modified Ammunition Vehicle to ensure no mustard agent vapor leaks occurred during the transport of munitions.
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    Safety Remains Focus of Pilot Testing Phase
    October 28, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant trainee attempts to put out a simulated fire with a laser-equipped extinguisher while a training specialist remotely controls the situation
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    Blue Grass Fire Training Goes High Tech
    October 27, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant worker demonstrates proper use of a Horizontal Life Line as he pulls cable on a pipe rack during the plant’s construction phase. The HLLs are designed to prevent falls from heights.
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    Team Members Inspect Blue Grass Fall-Protection Equipment
    October 26, 2016
  • Toxic material handlers move 105mm boxed munitions out of storage at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot for delivery to the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Packaged Munitions Require Special Handling
    October 14, 2016
  • David Rodriguez, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician, poses for a portrait.
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    Colorado Man Continues Family Legacy of Depot Work
    October 7, 2016
  • Within the Immobilized Cell Bioreactors, microbes grow as biofilm on packed media, 2-inch polyurethane cube sponges and 3 x 2-inch plastic spacers. In this fixed-film process, bioreactions occur in the biofilm.
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    Microbes to Treat Neutralized Chemical Agent Product
    October 3, 2016
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician lowers a 155mm projectile onto a conveyor and prepares to send it to the Explosive Containment Room where energetics are removed robotically.
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    Rejected Munitions Take Different Route to Destruction
    October 3, 2016
  • Munitions handlers place ACWA Test Equipment training munitions in the Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology (EDT) Service Magazine Sept. 1. These dummy projectiles will be used to test equipment, processes and handling techniques before the start of EDT operations.
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    Test Munitions Delivered for Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology Training
    September 27, 2016
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant leaders Jeff Brubaker, left, and Ron Hink speak to Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board members during a meeting at Eastern Kentucky University Sept. 14. The advisory groups hold quarterly public meetings to allow community members to stay informed on project progress.
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    Blue Grass Plant Leaders Report Testing Phase More Than Halfway Complete
    September 22, 2016
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technicians and project leadership pose for a picture just before the first munition was processed through the plant. The pilot testing phase of operations began on Sept. 7.
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    Colorado Chemical Weapons Facility Destroys First Rounds
    September 19, 2016
  • Michael Bryant, director, Madison County Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP), handles emergency response communications during the 2015 CSEPP annual exercise. Photo courtesy Madison County Emergency Management Agency.
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    Kentucky Emergency Preparedness Exercise Set for Sept. 21
    September 19, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant munitions handler tries on a Demilitarization Protective Ensemble during a training session. The suit is designed to protect the wearer from chemical agent exposure.
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    Blue Grass Personnel Start Protective Gear Training
    September 15, 2016
  • The plant’s filtration system will eliminate the possibility of a release of mustard agent vapors. Only after exhaust air has filtered through nine banks, can it be released to the atmosphere through an exhaust stack. Emissions data will be collected during pilot testing, and throughout operations, to ensure it does not exceed regulatory limits.
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    Pueblo Plant Enters Pilot Testing Phase
    September 8, 2016
  • The newly completed Blue Grass Army Depot satellite fire station is ready for occupancy to support the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant facilities. Initial staffing of the new station is scheduled for Sept. 19.
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    New Blue Grass Satellite Fire Station Declared Ready for Occupancy
    September 8, 2016
  • Technicians check documentation during the first transfer of chemical weapons on Sept. 7, 2016 from the Pueblo Chemical Depot stockpile to the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    First Chemical Weapons Processed in Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant
    September 7, 2016
  • Representatives from regulatory agencies observe as a Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant technician gets sealed into the Demilitarization Protective Ensemble. The evaluations certify the plant, paper and people are ready to start processing mustard agent.
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    Pueblo Plant One Step Closer to Operations
    August 26, 2016
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    Blue Grass Lab Receives Samples, Prepares for Operations
    August 26, 2016
  • Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program staff assists an Avondale resident with a Tone Alert Radio (TAR) during the McHarg Park Community Center Anniversary Celebration. TARs provide residents with a warning and instructions on what to do in the unlikely event of a chemical incident or accident.
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    Safety Focus for Community Center Celebration
    August 17, 2016
  • Bill Buchanan, environmental permitting manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, explains the permitting process during a public meeting Dec. 14, 2015.
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    Regulators Issue Draft Environmental Permits for Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology Facility
    August 16, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant worker fills an excavated area with crushed limestone on the Waste Transfer Station site. The station will provide a storage and shipping area for waste leaving the plant during operations.
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    Construction Begins on Blue Grass Waste Transfer Station
    August 15, 2016
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician verifies serial numbers on the lid and body of a Single Round Container. Problematic chemical weapons will be stored inside SRCs as they await destruction in the PCAPP Explosive Destruction System.
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    Special Containers Protect Some Projectiles
    August 10, 2016
  • The carbon filtration system for the Explosive Destruction Technology Service Magazine pictured here has been installed and systemized. This filter provides engineering controls for the building and is required for the certification to store chemical weapons.
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    Blue Grass Completes Explosive Destruction Technology Service Magazine
    August 9, 2016
  • Plant managers pose for a photo while certifying systems turned over to operations. The last of Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant systems have been turned over, signifying people, paper and plant are coming together to ready for pilot testing, the phase before operations.
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    September Start of Weapons Destruction Set for Colorado Pilot Plant
    August 5, 2016
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant summer interns use paper airplanes to practice data collection, plot a data distribution and identify how to improve performance using collaborating strategies.
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    Interns Expand Knowledge Base by Shadowing Peers
    July 29, 2016
  • Kelli Schifferer, human resources manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass.
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    New Blue Grass Human Resources Manager Provides Wealth of Experience
    July 28, 2016
  • A Madison County resident reviews supporting data for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant air permit at the Blue Grass Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office in Richmond, Kentucky.
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    Blue Grass Clean Air Act Permit Renewal Requested
    July 21, 2016
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    Plant’s Biotreatment Systems Expected to Be Effective, But Contingency Planning Is Underway
    July 21, 2016
  • A systemization team member checks the output of one of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s Standby Diesel Generators. The generators will provide back-up power to the plant in the event of a power loss.
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    Start-Up Team Tests Generators at Kentucky Plant
    July 19, 2016
  • A delivery of biomass from the Pueblo Wastewater Reclamation Facility arrived at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant on June 1. The biomass is used to seed the biotreatment process for destruction of thiodiglycol, the main ingredient of agent hydrolysate.
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    Last Systemization Turnovers Move Plant Closer to Pilot Testing
    July 18, 2016
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) Emergency Response Team members conduct rescue training exercises June 3. Sixteen defined activities will be performed starting in August as a part of Integrated Operations Demonstrations at PCAPP.
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    Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Plant to Begin Integrated Operations Demonstrations
    July 12, 2016
  • Chemical Engineering Technicians Chuck Kyle, center, and Adam Foor discuss the P2A Explosive Destruction System with Joel Groetsema, an intern at the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity Recovered Chemical Materiel Directorate.
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    New Model of Explosive Destruction System Being Tested at APG
    July 7, 2016
  • The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s Brine Reduction System, the last step of the Biotreatment Process, recovers water from biosludge producing a salt cake. The water is then recycled back into the plant.
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    Neutralization and Biotreatment Process at Pueblo Plant Explained
    July 6, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant maintenance worker removes an old weather-strip seal from an Enhanced On-site Container (EONC) that will be used to safely transport munitions from storage to the plant during operations. The maintenance team is refurbishing EONCs provided by two destruction facilities that completed their missions.
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    Blue Grass Plant Refurbishes Munitions Transport Containers, Saves Millions
    June 28, 2016
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    Blue Grass Welcomes New Commanders
    June 21, 2016
  • Army and Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) leadership stand ready to cut a ceremonial ribbon with representatives of the local community, signifying the upcoming initiation of plant operations at PCAPP.
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    Depot Event Marks Upcoming Operations at Pueblo Plant
    June 17, 2016
  • Jeff Brubaker, site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, and Ron Hink, project manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, provide rocket motor disposal information at a June 8 public meeting.
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    Blue Grass Plant Schedule, Rocket Motor Disposal Focus of Public Meeting
    June 16, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Activity (BGCA) worker observes as another worker practices loading dummy munitions onto a metal tray for placement in a secure transport container May 25. BGCA workers recently began a comprehensive munitions handling training program to ready them for operations.
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    Blue Grass Plant Partners Begin Training for Safe Loading of Chemical Munitions
    June 16, 2016
  • Mechelle Cass-Burrell, gas chromatography/flame photometric detector/mass selective detector operator, explains laboratory processes to intern Alexa Snyder and faculty supervisor Dr. Helen Caprioglio.
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    Student Completes Degree with Help from Pueblo Plant Laboratory
    June 14, 2016
  • Technicians package a Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) site groundwater sample for testing. To protect a freshwater aquifer that flows beneath the site, BGCAPP completed groundwater baseline testing in April.
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    Blue Grass Plant Completes Baseline Groundwater Sampling
    June 9, 2016
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant paramedic takes the blood pressure of a patient in the Medical Clinic, which recently received high marks during a surety review.
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    Medical Clinic Earns Praise During Review
    June 6, 2016
  • During training exercises, a worker uses a lift assist to place a simulated munition on a conveyor in the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s Enhanced Reconfiguration Building. This is an example of the first block in a system designed to align plant readiness activities with permit requirements.
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    Block System Readies Pueblo Plant for Operations
    June 3, 2016
  • Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant workers inspect the Munitions Washout System in the Munitions Demilitarization Building. This system is part of a project design change to eliminate the munitions washout process.
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    Blue Grass Plant Munitions Washout Elimination Study Released
    May 31, 2016
  • Workers inventory excess equipment at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant’s new Richmond Mall property disbursement facility in May.
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    Blue Grass Plant Moves Property Disbursement to Richmond Mall
    May 25, 2016
  • An Information, Systems and Technology Group (IS&T) worker installs a network telephone on a desk in the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant’s newly completed office space in the Richmond Mall. The new area hosts approximately 50 workers, specifically engineering and IS&T Group personnel.
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    Blue Grass Plant Expands Richmond Mall Operations
    May 20, 2016
  • An ordnance technician uses a lift assist to place a simulated munition onto a conveyor as a part of systemization activities. The systemization phase is nearing completion at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Depot Event to Mark Initiation of Plant Operations
    May 20, 2016
  • A monitoring technician uses a field olfactometer, a portable odor detecting and measuring device, to verify and determine the strength of odors at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Pueblo Plant Technicians Sniff for Odors to Ensure Environmental Protection
    May 18, 2016
  • U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) greets a job fair attendee as Pueblo plant human resources staff looks on. Approximately 150 job seekers spoke to PCAPP human resources staff at the Pueblo Community College Spring Job Fair, sponsored in part by Tipton.
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    Recruiters Seek Employees for Plant Operations
    May 12, 2016
  • Joseph Deines, ordnance technician, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, uses a custom tool to remove an ignitor cartridge from a simulated chemical-agent mortar. The tool was designed and produced through collaboration with workers from the Bechtel Pueblo Team, the Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives and the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
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    Innovative Tool Improves Worker Safety and Efficiency at Pueblo Plant
    May 4, 2016
  • John Breckenridge stands in front of the Boone Firehouse, where he serves as volunteer fire chief. Breckenridge is also a mechanical technician at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Pueblo Plant Technician Shares Safety Culture with Boone Firefighters
    May 2, 2016
  • A paramedic checks a worker’s vital signs in the new Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Medical Facility, which opened for full project support in April. This facility will support occupational screenings, drug and alcohol testing, accident response and decontamination activities in the unlikely event they should be needed.
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    Blue Grass Plant Medical Facility Now Operational
    April 29, 2016
  • A worker signs for the delivery of three Outside Operations Support Facility modules to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant April 12. This 12-module building will support the Explosive Destruction Technology mission by providing worker services, including protective-gear issue, changing and locker facilities and a lunch room.
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    First Modules Arrive for Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology Support Facility
    April 19, 2016
  • A laboratory monitoring technician opens the door to one of the Depot Area Air Monitoring System perimeter monitoring enclosures. Eight of these enclosures have been placed around the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant site on the Blue Grass Army Depot to provide a record of air samples taken daily in the area.
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    Perimeter Air Monitoring System Installed as Additional Safety Measure at Blue Grass Plant
    April 18, 2016
  • Entry Support Area (ESA) tenders practice a toxic area rescue. A recent training exercise, during which an ESA tender lost consciousness, is a case study which will be incorporated into Trigger Training. The training will teach Pueblo plant employees to look for cues to avoid potential hazards.
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    Pueblo Plant Workers Train for Improved Safety
    April 15, 2016
  • Craig Williams, co-chair, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board, and Rep. Rita Smart, D-Ky., address the Kentucky House regarding House Bill 106. This bill, signed into law by the governor April 6, provides a more realistic designation for wastes from the chemical agent destruction process.
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    Kentucky Governor Signs Blue Grass Plant Waste Code Bill into Law
    April 11, 2016
  • A monitoring technician performs a calibration verification of the Miniature Continuous Air Monitoring System at the Pueblo plant. Recently, the Laboratory has been working to reduce the likelihood of false-positive or false-negative alarms.
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    Testing Program Reduces Risk of False Alarms
    April 6, 2016
  • The Pueblo plant’s Munition Treatment Units heat munition bodies and mortar baseplates to a minimum temperature of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 minutes in order to thermally destroy any residual agent.
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    Heating Technique to Eliminate Residual Chemical Agent
    April 5, 2016
  • U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, meets with leadership of the Blue Grass Army Depot and Craig Williams, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board co-chair, March 23 at Eastern Kentucky University to receive updates about depot missions.
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    Blue Grass Plant Managers Update U.S. Senate Majority Leader
    March 30, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant systemization team member checks steps on a compressed-air system test procedures checklist. This system will provide pressurized air for instrumentation, plant air and the plant’s Life Support System.
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    Compressed-Air System Testing Underway at Blue Grass Plant
    March 29, 2016
  • A systemization team member tests valving in the Supercritical Water Oxidation Processing Building in March 2016. The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant has streamlined management for the systemization phase of the project.
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    Blue Grass Plant Streamlines Start-Up Management for Systemization
    March 23, 2016
  • John Riley, Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program coordinator, Pueblo, Colorado.
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    Emergency Preparedness Job Brings Army Veteran Full Circle
    March 21, 2016
  • Bechtel Pueblo Team project manager Rick Holmes receives an influenza vaccine from continuous quality improvement nurse Jennifer Wilson. The Pueblo plant’s medical clinic offers a broad range of services, from flu shots to advanced life support.
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    Pueblo Plant Medical Staff Provide Advanced Life Support
    March 16, 2016
  • Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board (CDCAB) member Rev. Robert Blythe, second from right, asks a question during a Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and CDCAB meeting March 9. Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant leaders provided project updates as part of this quarterly public meeting.
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    Blue Grass Plant Leaders Discuss Project Progress with Community
    March 16, 2016
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant site project manager (SPM) Greg Mohrman and Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant SPM Jeff Brubaker pose for a photograph during the Feb. 24 Citizens’ Advisory Commission meeting, held in Pueblo, Colorado. Each benefit from lessons learned at now closed chemical disposal facilities.
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    Former Chemical Demilitarization Managers Share Start-up Experiences
    March 7, 2016
  • Eastern Kentucky University students discuss hiring opportunities at the Blue Grass plant with Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass representatives at a university job fair March 2.
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    Blue Grass Plant Partners with Local University for Hiring
    March 4, 2016
  • Tom Edwards, biologist assigned to the Blue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, smiles as he prepares for a prescribed burn of depot native grasslands. This planned and scheduled activity helps the grasslands flourish by burning back non-native species to allow the native ones more access to resources.
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    Biologist Maintains Native Grasslands Around Blue Grass Plant
    February 25, 2016
  • Project Manager Rick Holmes, left, and Col. Thomas Duncan II, right, stand with Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) fire paramedic Joe Reno, control room operator Tom Hassing, training simulator engineer Wendell Savage and paramedics Wade Wills, Michael Whitmore and Kurt Thompson at an event sponsored by the American Red Cross. Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant and PCD employees were recognized as Hometown Heroes for responding to a medical emergency which resulted in saving a life.
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    Colleagues Honored for Saving Life of Pueblo Plant Worker
    February 25, 2016
  • A worker holds a placard describing the solid waste remaining from the final shot of the first campaign, completed by the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Explosive Destruction System Feb. 11.
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    First Explosive Destruction System Campaign Successfully Completed
    February 19, 2016
  • The Munitions Washout System (MWS) robot stands in front of a row of Cavity Access Machines at the Pueblo plant’s training facility. Control room operators and maintenance personnel train with the MWS at this location before working with a similar system at the plant.
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    Pueblo Plant Uses Present-Day Technologies to Clean up the Past
    February 17, 2016
  • The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant medical director and medical services coordinator check out a gurney in the project’s new ambulance Feb. 9. A new ambulance purpose-built for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant arrived Feb. 1.
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    New Ambulance Arrives at Blue Grass Plant
    February 12, 2016
  • Donald Jespersen, left, surety officer, Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP), and Courtney Borowski, agreements coordinator, ACWA Headquarters.
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    ACWA Rewards Employees for Quality, Continuous Improvement
    February 12, 2016
  • An entry support area tender and ordnance technician perform a practice Demilitarization Protective Ensemble entry in the Agent Processing Building. The Chemical Agent Safety Team was established at the Pueblo plant to make toxic area entries safer and more efficient.
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    Chemical Agent Safety Team Supports Pueblo Plant Personnel
    February 4, 2016
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant start-up team member communicates with personnel in the Control Room as he checks continuity on Rocket Handling System equipment.
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    Blue Grass Plant Performs Testing and Verification Activities
    February 2, 2016
  • A monitoring technician calibrates air monitoring equipment at the Pueblo plant. All positions that require routine access to chemical munitions or agents must meet the high standards of the Army’s Chemical Personnel Reliability Program.
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    Evaluation Program Ensures Reliability of Workforce
    February 1, 2016
  • An ordnance technician demonstrates reconfiguration to inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The inspectors visited the Pueblo plant January 5-7 to perform their final engineering review (A portion of this photo was masked in accordance with policy).
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    International Inspectors Confirm Pueblo Plant Was Built as Designed
    January 22, 2016
  • Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, views a monitor in the Control Room during her visit to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Jan. 13, 2016. Hammack visited the plant to receive an update on chemical weapons destruction in Kentucky.
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    Assistant Secretary of the Army Visits Blue Grass Plant
    January 21, 2016
  • Howard Logue, director, and Kelley McBride, left, public information officer, both of the Madison County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), inspect equipment that will be installed in the soon-to-be-completed EMA headquarters building.
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    Blue Grass Plant Welcomes New County Emergency Management Agency Director
    January 19, 2016
  • Workers examine a Spent Decon Holding Tank in the Agent Processing Building. Pueblo plant employees are in the process of turning over 63 systems and facilities in preparation for operations.
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    Project Manager Looks to 2016 as the Year for Agent Disposal
    January 15, 2016
  • Jeff Brubaker, Army site project manager, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Site Project Manager Discusses 2016 Goals
    January 13, 2016
  • READ MORE
    Site Project Manager Recounts Year of Accomplishments
    January 8, 2016
  • Workers install the first structural steel on the Explosive Destruction Technology Enclosure Building (EEB) at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Dec. 29, 2015. The EEB will house the Static Detonation Chamber that is slated to destroy the mustard munitions in the Blue Grass stockpile.
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    First Structural Steel Goes Up on Blue Grass Explosive Destruction Technology Enclosure Building
    January 7, 2016
  • Bruce Huenefeld is congratulated by Col. Thomas Duncan, commander, Pueblo Chemical Depot after receiving the Distinguished Civilian Service Award Dec. 15. Huenefeld’s last day on the job is Dec. 31.
    READ MORE
    Achievements Recognized as Army Manager Retires
    December 23, 2015
  • A member of the audience studies the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Year-in-Review presentation during the Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board quarterly public meeting Dec. 9.
    READ MORE
    Community Gets Blue Grass Plant Update, Glance Ahead
    December 23, 2015
  • Five isotainers of thiodiglycol were transferred into a 30-day Storage Tank to await use in testing of the biotreatement process.
    READ MORE
    Agent Hydrolysate Component Used to Test Biotreatment Process
    December 22, 2015
  • A Blue Grass Army Depot Quality Recycling Program worker evaluates wire and cable picked up in December from the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant site as part of the plant’s recycling program. The program has brought in almost $100,000 that directly benefits the depot’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation program for Soldiers and their families.
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    Blue Grass Project Recycling Program Benefits Soldiers
    December 21, 2015
  • Members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine toured the Pueblo plant in November. The Academies provide oversight of the chemical demilitarization programs in Colorado and Kentucky.
    READ MORE
    National Academies Committee Shares Expertise with Demilitarization Program
    December 14, 2015
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant worker checks a pallet of simulated M55 rockets as they are unloaded from a truck into a storage warehouse Dec. 8. These rockets will be used to test the systems and equipment of the plant prior to operations.
    READ MORE
    Test Munitions Arrive at Blue Grass Plant
    December 14, 2015
  • READ MORE
    Anniston Static Detonation Chamber to Destroy Pueblo’s Energetics
    December 4, 2015
  • READ MORE
    Blue Grass Team Makes Progress at Explosive Destruction Technology Site
    December 3, 2015
  • A program stakeholder asks a question at a Dec. 16, 2014, public meeting where Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant representatives discussed mitigation of cyanide formation in the munitions neutralization process. A public meeting similar to this one will be held Dec. 14, 2015, at Eastern Kentucky University to discuss project permitting activities.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Project Submits Permit Revision, Encourages Public Involvement
    December 1, 2015
  • READ MORE
    Training Progress Signals Workforce Readiness for Operations
    November 24, 2015
  • Thiodiglycol (TDG) is placed in a 30-day Hydrolysate Storage Tank to await testing in Immobilized Cell Bioreactors. The primary byproduct created during the neutralization process, TDG will be used to test the efficacy of biotreatment processes.
    READ MORE
    Pilot Test Demonstrations Prepare Workforce for Operations
    November 19, 2015
  • John Barton, chief scientist, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, holds a sample of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) effluent while briefing community stakeholders during a Secondary Waste Working Group meeting Nov. 10. A team from the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is working to ensure the SCWO process functions as intended during operations.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Scientists Provide Update on Supercritical Water Oxidation Activities
    November 18, 2015
  • A Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant employee views test samples in the Laboratory. Edgewood Chemical Biological Center personnel will conduct agent analysis to fulfill Chemical Weapons Convention treaty requirements in a similar on-site laboratory, beginning in 2017.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Team Requests Permit Changes for Treaty Sampling
    November 12, 2015
  • Conrad Whyne, program executive officer of the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program, discusses lessons learned at baseline sites. Whyne spoke to the Citizens’ Advisory Commission Oct. 28.
    READ MORE
    Lessons Learned from Baseline Sites to Serve as Model for Pueblo
    November 10, 2015
  • Ron Hink, incoming project manager, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass (BPBG), left, observes as Doug Omichinski, outgoing project manager, BPBG, points out details in the Control and Support Building during a plant tour Oct. 27, 2015.
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    New Manager Leads Blue Grass Systems Contract
    November 6, 2015
  • Members of St. Paul’s Catholic Church men’s club breakfast team ask questions of Site Project Manager Greg Mohrman following his presentation about the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
    READ MORE
    Site Project Manager Discusses Destruction Technology in Colorado Springs
    October 30, 2015
  • An aerial view of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant on Oct. 16, 2015. The project marks a major milestone with a media day for the completion of construction this month.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Plant Completes Construction Safely, On Schedule
    October 16, 2015
  • A tank of thiodiglycol, the first shipment of its kind, arrives at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in August 2015. It was diluted and stored and will be used to test the Biotreatment process.
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    Systemization Nears Completion at Pueblo Plant
    October 16, 2015
  • READ MORE
    Crews Prepare Site for Static Detonation Chamber
    October 16, 2015
  • With the help of a metal seal ring (used inside the vessel during door closure), Bruce Huenefeld, site project manager for the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Explosive Destruction System (PCAPP EDS), describes the process by which the EDS door seal was repaired. Huenefeld spoke at the Citizens’ Advisory Commission meeting held in Boone on Sept. 30.
    READ MORE
    System Restarts Chemical Agent Destruction Operations in Colorado
    October 6, 2015
  • A repair technician from Grayloc Corp. welds the Explosive Destruction System Sept. 21 to repair the door seal surface that was damaged Aug. 6.
    READ MORE
    Repairs Complete for Explosive Destruction System in Pueblo
    September 28, 2015
  • An ironworker watches as a concrete form is lifted into position for the second story of the Munitions Demilitarization Building in October 2010. The Blue Grass project’s asset management department works to be good stewards of government assets by transferring items such as these forms to other government agencies, entities or through public auction and return of the money to the project.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Project Saves Government Millions Through Property Transfers
    September 21, 2015
  • An evaluator watches as an Emergency Response Team performs an acid spill drill at the Pueblo plant. Drills are conducted routinely as a part of plant optimization.
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    Fundamental Steps Prepare Pueblo Plant for Operations
    September 15, 2015
  • A girl smiles while holding her puppy at Pueblo’s Mineral Palace Park in July 2015. During National Preparedness Month this September, pet owners are being reminded to make advance plans for pet care as part of their family preparedness.
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    Keeping Fido Safe: Program Stresses Importance of Pet Evacuation Plans
    September 15, 2015
  • On Aug. 25, training specialist Bret Peterson holds a Mine Safety Appliance at the plant’s training facility. This type of mask will be used by employees who make toxic area entries at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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    Respiratory Protection Provides Safe Environment for Workforce, Visitors
    September 14, 2015
  • Engineer Sandra Davis, quality specialist, helps an eighth-grade student understand the principles of engineering by building a bridge made from Popsicle sticks during Engineers Week in February 2015.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Plant Engineer Sparks Students’ Interest
    September 14, 2015
  • Gary McCloskey joined the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) team on May 23, 2015, as a deputy project manager for AECOM. He will manage PCAPP operations, maintenance and support activities.
    READ MORE
    New Deputy Manager Destroyed First and Largest U.S. Chemical Weapons Stockpiles
    August 13, 2015
  • Chuck Mecham, training specialist, provides project workers with safety basics as he prepares to demonstrate how to operate a scissor lift, often used on the Blue Grass site for performing construction and maintenance duties.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Training Department Transitions as Project Does
    August 13, 2015
  • The cognizant systems engineer team poses for a photo in front of the Personnel Support Building at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. They will ensure the systems, subsystems, and first-of-a-kind equipment at the plant performs as designed prior to and during operations.
    READ MORE
    26 Engineers are COGs that Keep PCAPP Train Moving
    August 13, 2015
  • In September 2010, workers placed the third Energetics Neutralization Reactor on its pad in the Munitions Demilitarization Building at the Blue Grass plant. The energetics neutralization system is currently undergoing modification to decrease the formation of hydrogen cyanide in the neutralization process.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, August 2015
    August 13, 2015
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Emergency Preparedness Intern Cody Jensen.
    READ MORE
    Coast Guard Rescuer Trains Staff with Life-Saving Skills
    August 13, 2015
  • Blue Grass engineers and technical personnel volunteer their time in area science, technology, engineering and math-oriented activities such as science fairs, classroom events and robotics.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Engineers Reach Out to Local Students
    August 13, 2015
  • The Blue Grass plant partners with Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection personnel, seen here on an inspection tour of the construction site, to ensure the project meets or exceeds all of the commonwealth’s environmental regulations.
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    Protecting Human Health and Environment is Top Priority
    July 15, 2015
  • Control Room operators monitor the factory-acceptance testing of the Static Detonation Chamber unit at the Dynasafe workshop in Kristinehamn, Sweden.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, July 2015
    July 15, 2015
  • This postcard shows the destruction from a lightning-induced explosion that occurred at the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Storage Depot on the Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, on July 10, 1926. This explosion was the impetus for the formation of the Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board, which provides oversight to the United States’ explosive storage and operations.
    READ MORE
    Oversight Helps Reduce Risk at Blue Grass Plant
    July 15, 2015
  • Steve Bird, right, describes how the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Explosive Destruction System destroys munitions to U.S. House of Representatives staff members during a June 30 tour.
    READ MORE
    First Explosive Destruction System Campaign Reaches Midpoint Ahead of Schedule
    July 14, 2015
  • Electrical Engineer Interns Ciera Gooden and Kody Kovacich examine a power panel that distributes energy to different areas of a facility.
    READ MORE
    PCAPP Interns Thrive Under Autonomous Supervision
    July 14, 2015
  • Mama bobcat and her babies had little impact on PCAPP EDS operations aside from garnering some attention while the generator was serviced.
    READ MORE
    When Nature Calls: Bobcat Mother Nests at Explosive Destruction System Site
    July 14, 2015
  • Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) technicians prepare a drum to properly receive process waste during the 2008-2009 Operation Swift Solution. ECBC personnel will return to the Blue Grass site to conduct the Explosive Destruction Technology treaty sampling operation.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Plant Partners Planning Ahead to Meet International Treaty Requirements
    June 10, 2015
  • Sarah Joseph, Pueblo City-County Health Department public information officer, interviews John Norton, member, Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission.
    READ MORE
    Getting the 411 on Chemical Destruction Progress
    June 10, 2015
  • Workers finish columns in the cafeteria area of the Personnel Maintenance Building, where personnel will have lockers, showers and a break room while the project is in operations.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, June 2015
    June 10, 2015
  • Emergency managers and planners update the state field manager in the Pueblo County Emergency Operations Center.
    READ MORE
    Practice Drills Improve Emergency Response Capabilities
    June 10, 2015
  • Dr. Doug Hindman, Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission (CAC) chair, left, chats with Sheila Pressley, CAC member, at a public meeting for the Blue Grass chemial munitions destruction project.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Advisory Commission Chair a Driving Force Behind Community Involvement
    June 10, 2015
  • The Biotreatment Utilization Group met for the first time on May 27, 2015.
    READ MORE
    Community Group Puts Bugs Under the Microscope
    June 10, 2015
  • Operators load 105mm munitions into the tray of the Explosive Destruction System. This system is being used at the Pueblo Chemical Depot to destroy munitions unsuitable for processing in the main destruction plant.
    READ MORE
    Nobody Does it Better: Operators Show Proven Reliability and Experience
    May 18, 2015
  • U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot toxic materials handlers shroud an overpacked pallet with mock munitions as part of a training exercise.
    READ MORE
    It Takes a Team to Move a Munition
    May 18, 2015
  • Liquid from the hot water steam rinse and cold water vessel cooling rinse produced from Explosive Destruction System activities is ready for transport to a permitted treatment, storage and disposal facility.
    READ MORE
    Management Team Follows Strict Guidelines for Waste Disposal
    May 18, 2015
  • Stephanie Jakus, instrumentation and electrical maintenance supervisor, right, inspects electrical equipment that has been locked out/tagged out to ensure no power is flowing through those circuits before anyone performs work on them.
    READ MORE
    Workforce Changes as Blue Grass Project Shifts Into Systemization
    May 11, 2015
  • Workers assemble two of the six Medical Facility modules at the Blue Grass construction site. When complete, this building will provide resources to assess and treat patients 24 hours per day, seven days per week during systemization and operations.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, May 2015
    May 11, 2015
  • James Duncan, Explosive Destruction Technology (EDT) project safety specialist, top right, discusses a storm sewer excavation with Patrick Eidson, EDT civil superintendent.
    READ MORE
    A Day in the Life of a Blue Grass Safety Specialist
    May 11, 2015
  • In 1941, steel was conserved for the war effort, so the Blue Grass Army Depot’s water system pipes were made from white oak planks, similar to the manufacture of barrels or casks, then wrapped with thin bands of steel and coated in asphalt. They were replaced long ago with modern materials.
    READ MORE
    Where Does the Blue Grass Plant Get its Water?
    April 14, 2015
  • An operator places three 105mm projectiles into the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Explosive Destruction System.
    READ MORE
    The Next Step for EDS: Destroying ‘One Oh Fives’
    April 14, 2015
  • A Blue Grass worker grinds the edge of a plenum, a pressurized steel housing that acts as a transition point between Munitions Demilitarization Building blast valves and ductwork. An installed plenum can be seen above his head.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, April 2015
    April 14, 2015
  • Active nests at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant are barricaded and signs are posted to protect migratory birds.
    READ MORE
    Birds Rule: Migratory Bird Act Enforced at Pueblo Plant
    April 14, 2015
  • Mechanical Field Engineer Phil Aikele, nicknamed “Turnover Phil,” inspects a motor on the Rocket Cutting Machine. Aikele is part of the turnover team that is responsible for making sure the Blue Grass plant’s mechanical systems are ready to move into the systemization, or testing, phase after their installation.
    READ MORE
    'Turnover Phil' Brings 40 Years of Mechanical Experience to Blue Grass Plant
    April 14, 2015
  • Engineers at the Pueblo plant are involved in everything from air emission to water treatment regulations. Here, coatings specialists conduct an inspection of protective coatings in hazardous waste treatment and storage areas.
    READ MORE
    Team of Engineers Makes Plant Environmentally Strong
    April 14, 2015
  • Operators place a container of mustard agent inside the Explosive Destruction System at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, Colorado.
    READ MORE
    Chemical Weapons Destruction Began March 18 in Colorado
    March 24, 2015
  • The Gibbses have attended public meetings pertaining to the project since 1990.
    READ MORE
    Public Participation: A Way of Life for Local Couple
    March 11, 2015
  • From left, Lt. Col. Andrew “Jack” Morgan, Blue Grass Chemical Activity commander; Ramesh Melarkode, Blue Grass Army Depot representative; Doug Omichinski, Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) project manager; and Jeff Brubaker, BGCAPP site project manager, pay attention to a speaker at a quarterly public stakeholder meeting. These men and their respective organizations work as a team toward the safe destruction of the Blue Grass chemical stockpile.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Partners: Shared Mission, Shared Resources
    March 10, 2015
  • Workers install fire-proofing panels in the Container Handling Building. One of the last buildings to be constructed on the Blue Grass site, this building will be the first step into the destruction process for the chemical munitions.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, March 2015
    March 10, 2015
  • The Bechtel High Angle Rope Rescue Team conducts a confined-space training exercise with the Blue Grass Army Depot Fire Department. The Blue Grass project partners with the depot for enhanced site emergency response.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Army Depot Provides Enhanced Emergency Response
    March 10, 2015
  • Conrad F. Whyne, Program Executive Officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives
    READ MORE
    National Research Council Study Released on Successful Treatment of Hydrolysate at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant
    March 2, 2015
  • Every Friday an agent drill with a medical event is performed. Drills are being performed so that staff will know how to respond in the event of an actual emergency.
    READ MORE
    Pueblo Plant Staff Learn to Keep Calm in Emergencies
    February 10, 2015
  • Pueblo plant staff performs drills to demonstrate their readiness for operations. In this scenario, an employee who has been exposed to mustard agent is being lifted into an ambulance for transport to the Pueblo plant’s Medical Clinic.
    READ MORE
    Key to Emergency Response Found in PCAPP Communication Systems
    February 10, 2015
  • Brad Baptiste, right, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) manager, speaks with Brian Ramdwar, operations branch manager, about Laboratory testing. Baptiste was among several auditors who spent the week at the Pueblo plant reviewing the organization for the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program’s Star Status.
    READ MORE
    Reaching for the Stars: PCAPP Recommended for Top OSHA Award
    February 10, 2015
  • Diane Osbourne, small-business advocate, makes notes as she hosts a tour of the Blue Grass project for vendors who wish to service the project. Osbourne and her associates maintain a “mentor to success” mindset to give small and local vendors the best chances of success in bidding on and executing Blue Grass contracts.
    READ MORE
    Blue Grass Small-Business Advocate Mentors Vendors to Success
    February 10, 2015
  • Electricians install a public address speaker in the Munitions Demilitarization Building. This system will allow one-way communications within the building to keep the workforce informed and to facilitate project functionality.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, February 2015
    February 10, 2015
  • A member of the Pueblo plant’s Delta Crew practices a high-angle rescue. The Emergency Response Team members are trained in three types of rope rescue: high angle, low angle and confined space.
    READ MORE
    Scaling New Heights: Workers Train for Rescue
    January 14, 2015
  • The formerly congested area down the middle of the Blue Grass site looks nothing like it did just a few short months ago, when it was filled with equipment, craft utility sheds and trailers, and other construction-related material. It is now being graded and graveled to a facility apron for storm-water runoff. Water collected here will be funneled into the plant’s managed catch-basin system.
    READ MORE
    The BGCAPP Team’s 2015 New Year’s Resolutions
    January 14, 2015
  • A modified intermodal shipping and storage container is used for confined space training at the Pueblo plant.
    READ MORE
    Confined Space Simulator a First for Chem Demil
    January 14, 2015
  • Workers prepare the Blue Grass Entry Control Facility for roof placement. This building, the plant’s security entry control point, will be turned over to the systemization team this year.
    READ MORE
    News from the BGCAPP Construction Site, January 2015
    January 14, 2015
  • READ MORE
    Suits Tailored for Safety
    January 14, 2015
  • The Star Team was responsible for heading up the Voluntary Protection Program recertification effort last year.
    READ MORE
    Safety Culture Leads to Blue Grass Project Recertification
    January 14, 2015

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