Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant
Planned weapons destruction plant in Kentucky, U.S. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) is a facility built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD), near Richmond, Kentucky.
The last munition, an M55 rocket containing GB nerve agent, was destroyed July 7, 2023. It marked the last chemical weapon in the U.S. stockpile.
Since 1944, the Army stored 523 short tons (474 t) of nerve agents sarin (GB) and VX and mustard agent in 155mm projectiles, 8-inch projectiles and M55 rockets at BGAD. That was about 2% of the nation's original chemical weapons stockpile.
BGCAPP used neutralization to destroy the majority of the stockpile and Static Detonation Chamber units to augment the main plant.
Destruction of this stockpile was a requirement of the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty to which the United States is a party. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention and monitored the progress of the nation's chemical weapons destruction programs. The Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA) oversaw the destruction of the Blue Grass chemical weapons stockpile and now is managing destruction of agent-contaminated secondary waste and closure activities.