Quote:
Originally Posted by happeemommee
Good Grief! I've heard talk about the Army Depot in Richmond, but didn't realize what was stored there. I have to admit it's a little scary, especially if the nerve gas is not being kept properly. Can anyone give me any real information on this place?
Thanks! 
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Blue Grass Army Depot is a
chemical weapon and standard munitions storage facility located at
Richmond,
Kentucky, operated by the
United States Army. It stores a small stockpile of chemical agents, comprising 523 tons of nerve agents
GB (sarin) and
VX, and
mustard gas, or about two percent of the United States chemical weapons stockpile.
[1] Beginning with an initial task order in 2003, destruction of the Blue Grass chemical weapons stockpile has been contracted out to a Joint Venture of
Bechtel and
Parsons using the technology known as neutralization followed by supercritical water oxidation. Transport of post-treatment wastewater to a chemical waste facility in
New Jersey is being considered.
[2] Groundbreaking for the chemical destruction facility took place on October 2, 2006. Due to funding restrictions, the design-build-operate-close schedule has been extended. Final design of the facilities should be complete in 2010. Pilot testing of the neutralization procedure is currently scheduled to begin in late 2016 with full-scale destruction of the chemical stockpile to start by mid-2018. The plant will operate until all the chemical weapons have been destroyed and then will start the closure (shut-down, dismantling, and restoration of site) process sometime in the early 2020s.