When munitions processing is complete, Pueblo plant staff will use high-tech equipment to safely demolish the buildings and equipment that demilitarized munitions and destroyed chemical agent.
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The Pueblo plant team is seeking approval from Colorado regulators to begin a campaign to destroy munitions that were rejected from destruction in the main plant due to worker safety and other issues.
The environmental manager at the Pueblo plant has been designated as the plant’s closure lead.
Pueblo plant operators received state approval to operate the Static Detonation Chamber, or SDC, complex at full capacity after months of environmental testing and analysis.
State regulators approved the full processing rate for the destruction of HT mustard-agent 4.2-inch mortar rounds in the main plant Jan. 20.
Crews operating the Static Detonation Chamber complex at the Pueblo plant recorded the highest monthly destruction totals since the elimination of 4.2-inch mortar rounds began in February 2022.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis appointed a new member to the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission, or CAC, in October.
In 2022, the Pueblo plant came closer to eliminating the chemical weapons stockpile in Colorado, completing the second of three munition destruction campaigns and starting the second phase of the last campaign on the 4.2-inch mortar rounds in early December.
Officials from the Department of Defense and U.S. Army toured the Pueblo plant and Static Detonation Chamber complex Dec. 7 to observe overall operations and chemical weapons demilitarization mission progress.
Pueblo crews began destroying 4.2-inch mortar rounds in the main plant using an improved technology Dec. 1.