A massive stockpile of chemical weapons in southern Colorado is no more. The last batch of weapons at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot were safely destroyed last week.
Workers have been destroying hundreds of thousands of munitions of varying shapes and sizes since 2016. The United States made the weapons during World War II but never used them. They have been stored in Pueblo since the 50s.
“It's bittersweet for us, especially for someone like me who's been on the project for so long, said Sandy Romero, communications manager for the project. "How many people can actually say that they're destroying chemical weapons?”
The plant in Pueblo dealt with mustard agents, particularly howitzer and mortar shells. In addition to the chemical danger, the rounds are also packed with high explosive. The team used robotic equipment to disassemble the weapons, drain the chemicals out, and then incinerate the leftover parts.
Romero says that the weapons were designed as a tool of attrition— achieved by extreme brutality.
"So mustard agent, though wasn't designed to kill people," Romero said. "It was designed to decapitate the enemy, where you would have to have several soldiers carrying a body off the field if they got exposed to the chemical agent."
The site is now being cleaned up and decommissioned—a process that will take over three years as equipment is decontaminated. There is one other site like this in the U.S., in Kentucky, where chemical weapons disposal is still ongoing.
