Blue Grass Chemical Activity personnel supported the final movement of GB rockets to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant for demilitarization earlier this month. This marks the end of chemical stockpile storage at BGCA.
“The BGCA workforce and our partners at Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD), BGCAPP, and throughout the community have worked closely together for decades to keep these heinous weapons secured, and to keep the environment and community safe from their deadly effects,” said Lt. Col. Tyler McKee, BGCA commander. “Delivery of our last rockets is a significant milestone to their final destruction.”
Chemical crews at BGCA first supported movement of GB rockets to BGCAPP in June 2022, for the final destruction campaign. The BGCA workforce has supported delivery of more than 51,000 GB rockets to BGCAPP for destruction while also conducting routine air monitoring and maintaining oversight of the stockpile. This milestone marks the delivery of the entire chemical weapons stockpile, more than 100,000 chemical munitions, including mustard-, GB- or VX-filled projectiles and rockets containing either VX or GB, to the BGCAPP. Delivery of the final GB-filled rocket completes that effort.
The BGCA workforce will transition to supporting deliveries of containerized warheads containing residual amounts of chemical agent to the BGCAPP.
“One facet of BGCA’s mission has closed, however, there is still work to be done,” said Nate Witt, BGCA’s director of chemical operations. “As long as there are still drained, overpacked rocket warheads in storage, we will support delivery to the destruction facility following the same deliberate process.”
Since the last rockets were delivered, BGCAPP has completed destruction of the chemical weapons stockpile. Completion of chemical weapons destruction marks the fulfillment of the nation’s demilitarization obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty. The Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, BGCAPP and BGCA will start multi-year site closure activities, including destroying containerized warheads containing residual amounts of chemical agent. The BGAD will continue its mission of storing and distributing conventional munitions and chemical defense equipment.
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