Operations at the Blue Grass Army Depot’s chemical weapons destruction plant continue to scale back.
The plant has been destroying all contaminated secondary waste since finishing the destruction of its chemical weapons stock two years ago. Full closure of the chemical weapons plant is expected in 2027.
Of that secondary waste, the plant has destroyed 60% of its VX warhead stock and 74% of its GB warhead stock. The detonation chamber that destroys the VX stock is in the middle of maintenance, which has caused some delay.
But Joe Curcio, project manager with the plant’s Bechtel workforce, says they’re still on track to finish decontamination efforts at all plant facilities by the end of the year. That includes both the main plant and both detonation chambers.
“We're targeting the November time frame for both the SDC 1200 and SDC 2000,” Curcio said. “The main plant, in terms of putting ourselves in a position where we'll be ready to start demolition activities, that's targeted for December of 2025. All those are 2025.”
Regular staff drawdowns have been underway as the plant gets nearer to its closure. Bechtel says they expect another layoff of “approximately 170 workers” later this month, bringing staffing to around 1,000 workers.
Other workforce contractors at the plant have also recently filed layoff notices with the Kentucky Career Center. That includes Battelle, which is laying off 245 employees, and Amentum, which is laying off 90 employees.
One point of discussion at a citizens advisory meeting Wednesday was local outreach. Curcio says they’re looking to find other jobs for those Bechtel workers who are looking.
“I think it's very important that we continue to message that we have a skilled workforce in terms of high hazard facility management, procedure compliance with a very, very mature safety culture,” Curcio said.
Curcio says they’ve been hosting job fairs for workers and reaching out to local business leaders and politicians. They’ve recently held meet and greets with the city of Louisville and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Madison County leaders expressed a preference during the meeting to keep as much of the workforce local as possible after the plant’s closure.
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