The Army s Pueblo Chemical Depot east of Pueblo announced that Feb. 19 marked the start of the final chemical weapons destruction campaign in Colorado.
Pueblo Chemical Depot has destroyed 75% of mustard agent chieftain.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chieftain.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Staff at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant launched destruction efforts on some of the smaller mustard agent-filled projectiles on Saturday.
The first of approximately 380,000 total 105-millimeter projectiles were neutralized, according to Sandra Romero, communications manager for the Bechtel Pueblo Team.
The neutralization of mustard agent molecules occurs through a process using hot water and a caustic solution that makes hydrolysate a common industrial chemical that is readily biodegradable. Hydrolysate is then broken down into salts, water and organics using living microbes.
Since the destruction of 300,000 larger 155-millimeter munitions wrapped up in September, the 1,615 technicians on the Bechtel Pueblo Team consisting of employees with the Bechtel, Amentum, Battelle and General Physics companies have retrofitted processing equipment, making specialized components needed to destroy the smaller 105mm projectiles.