The Pueblo Chemical Depot is working to destroy America’s largest stockpile of Cold War-era mustard gas shells reportsthe Gazette.
The depot plans to blast its first shell with its explosive destruction system in March. There are almost 800,000 rounds stored at the 23,000-acre depot.
There are plans to expand operations next year. A separate plant costing $725 million should be at full bore by that time. It will render more than 55 chemical shells harmless every hour, 24 hours a day.
Rick Holmes is the overseer for the robot-heavy plant. He says the project is on track to finish by November 2019.
An international treaty banned chemical weapons use in 1993, calling for chemical stockpiles to be destroyed by 2007. The deadline was extended to 2012. The Pueblo project has suffered delays from the start.
Holmes says driving for perfect defies the calendar.
The shells stores in Pueblo are 80 percent of the remaining chemical weapons in the U.S.