All mustard agent munitions stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County have now been destroyed. It marks the third of five chemical weapons disposal campaigns to be completed at the Army installation just outside Richmond.
The last 155 projectiles containing mustard agent were destroyed Saturday. Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Site Project Manager Candace Coyle said age and impurities of the mustard agent made demolition challenging.
Officials determined use of a static detonation chamber would provide the best option for destruction. Workers safely processed more than 15,000 projectiles in the detonation chamber. As of August 27th, just over 31% of the original chemical weapons stockpile at the Depot had been destroyed. Now, the focus is on nerve agent rockets. They undergo a neutralization process.
The operation at the Blue Grass plant is on schedule to complete disposal of the entire stockpile by 2023.
