Blue Grass Chemical Activity (BGCA) is actively preparing to support the demilitarization of chemical weapons, which is scheduled to begin this summer at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) at Blue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky.

The Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) houses one of two remaining chemical weapons storage sites in the United States. BGCA stores and monitors structures that contain over 101,000 chemical munitions scheduled for destruction. These weapons include nerve agents GB and VX and the mustard agent H.

As a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the United States has committed to chemically disarm by destroying any stockpiles of chemical weapons along with facilities that produce them. The CWC came into force in 1997 and the treaty currently has 193 state parties.

"We have been steadily working toward supporting the upcoming demilitarization operation at BGCAPP," said David Velazquez, chemical operations director. "We have moved into the final phase of training, which is joint training with BGCAPP personnel to move the weapons from storage to the plant for destruction."


"This operation requires a variety of personnel, about 20, to make sure everything runs smoothly and that we follow procedures," said John Robbins, field operations division chief for BGCA. "We have toxic materials handlers, forklift operators, chemical accountability management personnel, surety specialists, quality assurance specialists (ammunition surveillance) and supervisors working together to ensure everything is properly executed."




The mustard munitions are scheduled to be destroyed first, followed by the nerve agent weapons. BGCAPP is slated to complete the destruction of the chemical weapons stored at BGAD in 2023.