Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant
Encyclopedia
Pueblo Chemical Depot
The Pueblo Chemical Depot is a chemical weapons storage site located in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States.The depot houses 2,611 tons of mustard agent in approximately 780,000 munitions, equivalent to about seven percent of the original chemical material stockpile of the United States...
, in southeastern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. The depot contains munitions containing 2,611 tons of mustard agent that is part of the U.S. national chemical weapons stockpile. The weapons have been stored at the 23000 acres (93.1 km²) depot since the 1950s.
Destruction of this stockpile is a requirement of the Chemical Weapons Convention
Chemical Weapons Convention
The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction...
, an international treaty to which the United States is a party. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is an intergovernmental organization, located in The Hague, Netherlands. The organization promotes and verifies the adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention which prohibits of the use of chemical weapons and requires their destruction...
is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention and monitors the progress of the nation’s chemical weapons destruction programs.
The U.S. Army Element, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives
U.S. Army Element, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives
The U.S. Army Element, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program is responsible for the safe destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado and Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky...
(ACWA) oversees the destruction of the Pueblo chemical weapons stockpile.
Bechtel Pueblo Team (BPT) (consisting of Bechtel National, Inc., Washington Demilitarization Company, Parsons and Battelle Memorial Institute) will design, construct, pilot test, operate and close PCAPP.
Planning of activities
After systemization and pilot testing of the facility, full-scale destruction operations are expected to begin in 2014 and to be complete by 2017, which is 5 years after the deadline set by the OPCW, but within the deadline set by legislation enacted by the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. The plant will operate until all the chemical weapons have been destroyed. Closure activities (shut-down, dismantling, and restoration of site) are slated to be wrapped up by 2020.
In 2010, the Pueblo Chemical Depot, in conjunction with the ACWA program, completed an environmental assessment to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act is a United States environmental law that established a U.S. national policy promoting the enhancement of the environment and also established the President's Council on Environmental Quality ....
, or NEPA, and Title 32 Code of Federal Regulations Part 651 regarding the construction and operation of the Army’s Explosive Destruction System (EDS) and/or other explosive destruction technologies (EDT), at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado. The EA was withdrawn and a new EA will be completed in 2011. The new EA will focus on the use of explosive destruction technology (EDT) for destroying overpacked and reject munitions. In addition, the ACWA program will consider using the EDT to destroy explosive components removed from munitions, and one category of munitions which may require increased handling by workers.
History of chemical demilitarization in Colorado
| Decade | Milestones |
| 1950s | • Pueblo Army Depot (later redesignated as the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot) begins storage of chemical weapons containing mustard agent |
| 1980s | • Public Law Public law Public law is a theory of law governing the relationship between individuals and the state. Under this theory, constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are sub-divisions of public law... 99-145 designates the U.S. Army responsible for the destruction of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile |
| 1990s | • The United States Congress United States Congress The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.... establishes the ACWA program under the Department of Defense United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense is the U.S... to identify and demonstrate alternatives to incineration • Congress ratifies the Chemical Weapons Convention Chemical Weapons Convention The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction... treaty, which directs all member nations to destroy their chemical weapons and production facilities |
| 2000s | • Department of Defense selects neutralization followed by biotreatment Biotreatment Biotreatment is the processing of waste or hazardous substance using living organisms such as bacteria, fungi or protozoa. It is an environmentally friendly, relatively simple and cost-effective alternative to physico-chemical clean-up options.... as the destruction method for the Colorado stockpile • The Bechtel Bechtel Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S... Pueblo Team is awarded a contract to design, build and operate PCAPP • PCAPP Groundbreaking is held • Design work and preliminary construction is suspended pending evaluation of cost reduction measures • PCAPP redesign is approved by the Department of Defense and construction work resumes • The Secretary of Defense affirms to Congress that there are no options by which the U.S. can destroy 100 percent of its chemical stockpile by the extended Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline of April 29, 2012 • The Department of Defense accepts the final design for the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. • Above ground vertical construction begins with erection of the Multipurpose Building • Public Laws 110-116 and 110-181 are enacted, mandating destruction of the chemical stockpile by April 2012 or in no case later than Dec. 31, 2017 • PCAPP receives the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration Voluntary Protection Program Star Status award in recognition of safety excellence • PCAPP construction is more than halfway complete, with interior and exterior work ongoing in multiple buildings, including the Agent Processing Building, Control and Support Building, Enhanced Reconfiguration Building, Biotreatment Electrical Building, Entry Control Facility, Immobilized Cell Bioreactor and Offgas Foundation Pads and Munitions and Energetic Service Magazines. • The systemization phase begins at Pueblo Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. Construction teams turn over the first subsystems to the start-up groups for systemization testing and commissioning to begin to prepare the facilities for chemical weapons destruction operations. |
Technology
The Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
conducted studies to evaluate potential impacts of the elimination of these weapons using incineration and non-incineration methods. Four technologies were considered:
- incineration;
- chemical neutralization followed by supercritical water oxidation;
- chemical neutralization followed by supercritical water oxidation and gas phase chemical reduction;
- electrochemical oxidation.
Neutralization followed by biotreatment
Biotreatment
Biotreatment is the processing of waste or hazardous substance using living organisms such as bacteria, fungi or protozoa. It is an environmentally friendly, relatively simple and cost-effective alternative to physico-chemical clean-up options....
was selected for the destruction of the Colorado stockpile.
The technology comprises the following steps:
- Robotic equipment removes energeticsEnergeticsEnergetics is the study of energy under transformation. Because energy flows at all scales, from the quantum level to the biosphere and cosmos, energetics is a very broad discipline, encompassing for example thermodynamics, chemistry, biological energetics, biochemistry and ecological energetics...
(explosives) from the weapon, including the fuze and the burster. The energetics are disposed of at a permitted facility off site. - The inside of the weapon is remotely accessed and mustard agent is washed out with high-pressure water.
- The mustard agent is mixed with hot water. The resulting mixture is neutralized with a caustic solution. The byproduct is called hydrolysate. The hydrolysate is treated biologicallyWastewater TreatmentWastewater treatment may refer to:* Sewage treatment* Industrial wastewater treatment...
. - The water is recovered for reuse in the process and the excess activated sludgeActivated sludgeActivated sludge is a process for treating sewage and industrial wastewaters using air and a biological floc composed of bacteria and protozoans.-Purpose:...
is secured in containers for disposal at an off-site permitted facility. - Metal parts are heated to 1000 °F (537.8 °C) for 15 minutes and are then recycled.
Public outreach
The Pueblo Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office was established in 1997 to serve as the community’s primary information resource on chemical weapons destruction in Colorado. The office responds to inquiries, provides information materials and coordinates guest speakers for a variety of different civic groups and organizations and interfaces with the governor-appointed Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission.External links
- http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/demil/
- http://www.csepp.apgea.army.mil/
- http://www.dem.co.pueblo.co.us/csepp.htm
- http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hm/pcdcac.htm
- http://www.defenselink.mil/
- http://www.hhs.gov/
- http://www.fema.gov/
- http://www.cma.army.mil/