U.S. Army Element, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives

The U.S. Army Element, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program (ACWA) is responsible for the safe destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot

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 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...

and Blue Grass Army Depot

Blue Grass Army Depot

Blue Grass Army Depot is a U.S. Army conventional munitions and chemical weapon storage facility located in east central Kentucky, southeast of the cities of Lexington and Richmond, Kentucky, operated by the United States Army. The site, composed mainly of open fields and wooded areas, is used...

in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

. ACWA was originally established by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

to test and demonstrate alternative technologies to baseline incineration

Incineration

Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...

for the destruction of chemical weapons. Today, the program’s mission is to oversee the design, construction, systemization, testing, operation and closure of two chemical weapons destruction pilot plants – the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant

Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant

The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is a chemical weapons destruction facility under construction. The plant is being built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, in southeastern Colorado. The depot contains munitions containing 2,611 tons of mustard...

in Colorado, and the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant

Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant

The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is a chemical weapons destruction facility under construction. The plant is being built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile at the Blue Grass Army Depot , near Richmond, Kentucky...

in Kentucky.

History of chemical weapons in the United States

The production of chemical weapons in the United States began during World War I, after their first large-scale use against Allied troops in Belgium. America’s chemical weapons stockpile was produced to deter the use of such weapons by other countries against the United States. Chemical weapons include blister agents that were designed to inflict chemical burns or blister the skin, and nerve agents that were designed to impair the nervous system. Production ceased in 1968.

In 1985, with the rise of international dialogue concerning the effects of chemical warfare, the United States started to destroy its stockpile of chemical weapons. In 1997, the United States formally agreed to destroy its stockpile by ratifying 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...

. The international treaty

Treaty

A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...

bans the use of all chemical weapons and aims to eliminate them throughout the world.

Under the management of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency, chemical stockpile destruction is on-going at Army installations near Anniston, Alabama; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Umatilla, Oregon; and Tooele, Utah. Chemical weapons stockpiles were formerly located at Johnston Atoll in the Pacific, and at Army installations near Newport, Indiana and Aberdeen, Maryland. The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency is also responsible for storage management of the chemical stockpiles at sites near Pueblo, Colorado and Richmond, Kentucky, whereas the ACWA program is responsible for stockpile destruction at these sites.

“Assembled” chemical weapons refer to weapons that contain a chemical agent in addition to fuzes, explosives, propellant, shipping and firing tubes and packaging materials. Examples include rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

s, projectiles and bombs.

History of ACWA

1997: Congress establishes the ACWA program to safely test and demonstrate at least two alternative technologies to the baseline incineration process for the destruction of the nation’s stockpile of assembled chemical weapons. ACWA program leaders implement an open, participatory public process called the ACWA Dialogue to engage stakeholders in the program’s decision-making process.

1999: Congress authorizes ACWA to manage the development and pilot-scale testing of these technologies. Public Law 106-79 states that funds would not be allocated for a chemical weapons disposal facility at Blue Grass Army Depot until the Secretary of Defense certifies demonstration of six incineration alternatives. ACWA successfully demonstrates three alternative technologies.

2000: ACWA successfully demonstrates three additional alternative technologies and concludes that four of the demonstrated technologies are viable for pilot testing. Public Law 106-398 mandates the Department of Defense to consider incineration and any demonstrated ACWA technologies for disposal of the Colorado stockpile.

2002: ACWA is assigned responsibility for the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles in Colorado and Kentucky. With community input garnered through the ACWA Dialogue process, Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

selects destruction technologies for both sites that same year - neutralization
Neutralization
In chemistry, neutralization, or neutralisation is a chemical reaction in which an acid and a base react to form a salt. Water is frequently, but not necessarily, produced as well. Neutralizations with Arrhenius acids and bases always produce water:Y and X represent a monovalent cation and anion...

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....

for the Colorado stockpile and neutralization followed by supercritical water oxidation
Supercritical water oxidation
Supercritical water oxidation or SCWO is a process that occurs in water at temperatures and pressures above a mixture's thermodynamic critical point. Under these conditions water becomes a fluid with unique properties that can be used to advantage in the destruction of hazardous wastes such as PCBs...

for the Kentucky stockpile.

2003: ACWA shifts its focus from assessing chemical weapons disposal technologies to implementing full-scale pilot testing of alternative technologies at these sites and changes its name from Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment to Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives to reflect its new program goals.

2004: Groundbreaking for the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant marks the start of construction in Colorado.

2006: In an April letter to Congress, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld affirms that there are no options by which the U.S. can destroy 100 percent of its remaining national chemical stockpile by the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline of April 29, 2012. Groundbreaking for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant marks the start of construction in Kentucky.

2007: The U.S Army Element, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives is formally activated by the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. The new designation as an Army “element,” meaning an Army organization assigned to a non-Army program, signified the official change from the program’s former alignment with the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. The ACWA program manager also reports directly to the Department of Defense, as mandated by 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...

104-208. Congress enacts legislation (Public Laws 110-116 and 110-181) mandating destruction of the remaining U.S. national chemical stockpile by the Chemical Weapons Convention deadline of April 29, 2012, but in no circumstances later than December 31, 2017. The Department of Defense begins working with Congress to develop an accelerated schedule to meet the 2017 date as closely as possible.The Department of Defense accepts the final design for the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

2009: Department of Defense provides Congress options for accelerating the ACWA program per Public Laws 110-116 and 110-181. The proposed plan sought additional resources to: 1) aim toward the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency completing destruction operations of all the U.S. chemical stockpile under its purview (90 percent of the U.S. stockpile) by 2012 utilizing performance incentives and risk mitigation actions; and 2) accelerate the ACWA program schedule toward completing destruction of an additional eight percent of the U.S. stockpile at Pueblo in 2017 and the remaining two percent of the U.S. stockpile at Blue Grass in 2021, resulting in an acceleration in destruction of three years at Pueblo and two years at Blue Grass. On-site treatment and disposal of hydrolysate at Pueblo and Blue Grass would continue, unless unforeseen technical difficulties arise.

2009: Operation Swift Solution Team fulfills its mission to safely eliminate three deteriorating steel containers that stored a mixture of GB (sarin
Sarin
Sarin, or GB, is an organophosphorus compound with the formula [2CHO]CH3PF. It is a colorless, odorless liquid, which is used as a chemical weapon. It has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction in UN Resolution 687...

) nerve agent and its breakdown products at the Blue Grass Army Depot. The multi-agency effort eliminated health and safety risks associated with continued storage of the containers as well as other wastes accumulated during years of their management. In May, the Department of Defense submits its Semi-Annual Chemical Demilitarization Program Report to Congress in conjunction with the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2010 laying out a path forward and funding requirements necessary to accelerate the ACWA program in order to complete destruction of the Pueblo chemical stockpile by 2017 and the Blue Grass stockpile by 2021. This request was subsequently passed by Congress and signed into law as Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111-118). In October 2009, the Department of Defense requested that the ACWA Program Manager study how to maintain continuity of demilitarization operations between U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency completion and ACWA start-up, consistent with ongoing efforts to accelerate destruction operations in both Colorado and Kentucky.http://www.pmacwa.army.mil/info/EA-FNSI.html

2010: An environmental assessment is conducted to evaluate the environmental impacts of the proposed acceleration of the construction and operation of explosive destruction system/explosive destruction technology systems at Pueblo. This environmental assessment was withdrawn and a new environmental assessment, focusing on the use of explosive destruction technology (EDT) for destroying overpacked and reject munitions, will be completed in 2011. 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. The Department of Defense accepts the final design for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The systemization phase begins at Pueblo and Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plants. 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.

2011:The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics certified the ACWA program to Congress under the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment. This certification was the result of a nearly six-month program review to determine the factors that led to the "critical" Nunn-McCurdy cost breach reported to Congress in December of 2010. The Under Secretary subsequently directed ACWA to proceed with the program without any significant changes to the destruction technology.

Chemical weapons destruction in Colorado

ACWA is responsible for the management of the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, located near Pueblo, Colorado. The Pueblo Chemical Depot was originally constructed as the Pueblo Ordnance Depot in 1942 and is currently responsible for safe and secure storage of 2,611 tons of mustard agent in projectiles. The weapons have been stored at the 23000 acres (93.1 km²) depot since the 1950s. The destruction technology used is neutralization followed by biotreatment. The follow-on process, biological treatment, consists of breaking down the neutralization byproduct called hydrolysate

Hydrolysate

Whey protein hydrolysate is considered the gold standard of protein powders. Unlike concentrate of isolate forms of whey protein, hydrolysates are enzymatically predigested for maximal speed of absorption. This additional processing often comes at an increased cost, but is considered superior for...

by microbial digestion

Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones....

Chemical weapons destruction in Kentucky

ACWA is responsible for the management of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) at the Blue Grass Army Depot located in east central Kentucky. The 14600 acres (59.1 km²) installation stores and maintains conventional munitions and provides chemical defense equipment and special operations support to the Department of Defense. The Blue Grass Chemical Activity, a tenant of the depot, is responsible for the safeguarding of a portion of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile, 523 tons of nerve agents GB and VX and mustard agent in rockets and projectiles.
BGCAPP will also use neutralization to destroy chemical agent, but will use supercritical water oxidation

Supercritical water oxidation

Supercritical water oxidation or SCWO is a process that occurs in water at temperatures and pressures above a mixture's thermodynamic critical point. Under these conditions water becomes a fluid with unique properties that can be used to advantage in the destruction of hazardous wastes such as PCBs...

(SCWO) as a secondary process.

ACWA schedule

After systemization and pilot testing of the facilities, full-scale destruction operations are expected to begin in Pueblo in late 2014 or early 2015 and in Blue Grass in 2018. The plants will operate until all the chemical weapons have been destroyed, and closure activities (shut-down, dismantling, and restoration of site) are slated to be wrapped up in Pueblo by 2020 and in Blue Grass by 2023. Funding for this accelerated course of action was approved by Congress in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 and became Public Law 111-118.

Public involvement

The Blue Grass Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office in Kentucky and the Pueblo Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office in Colorado serve as the local community’s primary resource for information regarding chemical weapons destruction. The offices work closely with the Army leadership and its contractors to respond to inquiries, develop and provide information materials, coordinate guest speakers for a variety of different civic groups and organizations and interface with the governor-appointed Colorado and Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commissions.

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