The destruction of chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County is in the home stretch. If all goes according to schedule, the last nerve agent rocket will be destroyed by August.
The first of five chemical weapons destruction campaigns started in June of 2019. At this point the disposal of some 523 tons of nerve and mustard agent is 93% complete. Ron Hink is project manager for the contractor Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass. He said this is the point in the campaign to stop focusing on the numbers and have a sole focus on safe operations.
“Because it’s easy to get distracted by kind of what we’re talking about here, the celebration, the victory, what it means. It’s all great, but we’ve got to get the last one done safely before we celebrate,” said Hink.
Two community advisory panels got an update Wednesday. Craig Williams serves as co-chair of the Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission.
Three Super Critical Water Oxidation units on the Depot grounds were deemed unsuitable for treating neutralization hazardous waste water. Williams said there’s current interest in using the SCWO facilities to test the disposal for what are known as forever chemicals.
“Fine if you want to test it here, that’s ok. We do not want Madison County to become a reception site for hazardous waste to be imported here for the next however many years, should the testing go well,” said Williams.
And once the last munition is neutralized, the focus shifts to the closure phase at the pilot destruction plant, which is expected to last two to three years. Significant staff reductions at the facility are not anticipated until that process is completed. And efforts continue to ensure those workers still have jobs in the Madison County area. County Judge Executive Reagan Taylor says he’s optimistic work now to move those workers into new jobs will pan out.
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