75% of chemical agent at Pueblo Chemical Depot destroyed

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Since 2015, crews have been hard at work destroying the stockpile of World War 2 weapons at the US Army Chemical Depot outside of Pueblo. As of July 1st, the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant announced that 75% of the mustard agent at the chemical depot in Pueblo has been destroyed.

Congress mandated the complete destruction of the stockpile of weapons by the end of 2023; the process began back in March of 2015.

Crews at the Chemical Depot say they are running ahead of schedule.

“We should be complete sometime late 2022 or early 2023,” said Walton Levi, the site project manager with assembled chemical weapons alternatives.

The stockpile of 155mm projectiles, 105mm projectiles, and 4.2-inch mortar rounds have been present in Pueblo County since the 1950s.

"Being able to rid the community if not the nation or the world of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction is a great thing for the project for the community and for the state,” said Levi.

The 155mm projectiles were completely disposed of last year. However, the 105mm projectiles and the 4.2-inch mortar rounds are still present.

In order to speed up the process, the plant plans on bringing in a new technology called the static detonation chamber.

“It's a pressure vessel that is electrically heated," said Levi. "It sets off the explosives inside the ammunitions, unlike our main plant where we have to take the ammunitions apart.”

As soon as the plant receives the state of Colorado's approval, they will operate three separate detonation chambers at a time.