B-Roll Chemical Weapons Stockpile Destruction in...
The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is destroying nerve agent munitions from the chemical weapons stockpile stored in Kentucky....
The Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, known as PEO ACWA, oversaw the safe and environmentally compliant destruction of the remaining declared U.S. chemical weapons stockpile, stored at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, completed in June 2023, and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, completed in July 2023. Destruction was conducted at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, or PCAPP, in Colorado and the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, or BGCAPP, in Kentucky. PEO ACWA, headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, is responsible for the safe and environmentally compliant closure of the Colorado and Kentucky destruction facilities, scheduled to finish in 2028. When the closure phase is complete, the PEO ACWA program will end, and the unit will no longer exist. All program offices are now at minimal staffing as closure is well underway. As a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, or CWC, the U.S. agreed to destroy all chemical weapons it owned or possessed. The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (now Activity) destroyed 90% of the nation’s stockpile. PEO ACWA completed destruction of the remaining 10% of the stockpile July 7, 2023, by the CWC treaty commitment date of Sept. 30, 2023. The safety of the workforce, public and environment, has been and always will be the program’s highest priority.
