RICHMOND, Ky. — The last 155mm projectiles containing mustard agent were destroyed Sept. 4 in the Static Detonation Chamber at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP), according to a release from the plant. Their destruction marks the third of five chemical weapons destruction campaigns completed at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD).

"There is no doubt destroying the mustard projectiles in a Static Detonation Chamber was the right choice of technology to use,” said BGCAPP Site Project Manager Dr. Candace Coyle. “We knew the 1940s-era mustard agent would prove difficult to destroy due to its age and impurities.”

BGCAPP said that a 2011 X-ray assessment of Kentucky's chemical weapons stockpile confirmed the solidification of agents in a "significant" number of mustard projectiles, meaning they were unsuitable for automated processing in the main plant, as originally planned. They required a different technological approach for their destruction. The BGCAPP team worked with oversight officials and community members to select the Static Detonation Chamber, the release said.

“This marks another milestone in the overall disposal effort, making three of the five campaigns successfully completed,” said Craig Williams, Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board co-chair. “This achievement reflects what can be accomplished when the government, the contractors and the community work cooperatively towards a common objective. The workforce operating through the pandemic was a truly heroic effort.”

The destruction of 155mm projectiles containing mustard agent was the first campaign to begin in Kentucky on June 7, 2019. BGCAPP said workers have processed more than 15,000 projectiles in the Static Detonation Chamber since that time.

Originally, the chemical weapons stockpile at the depot consisted of 523 tons of chemical agent configured in 155mm projectiles containing mustard and VX nerve agent, 8-inch projectiles containing GB nerve agent and M55 rockets containing GB and VX nerve agent.

BGCAPP said that as of Aug. 27, more than 163 tons, or 31.2% of the original stockpile, have been destroyed in Kentucky.

The Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives is responsible for the destruction of the remaining U.S. chemical weapons stockpile in Colorado and Kentucky.

Stockpile sites in both states account for the last 10% of what was originally a national stockpile of more than 30,000 tons of chemical weapons, BGCAPP said. Both sires are on target to complete the destruction of chemical weapons by 2023.