Published: December 12, 2007 11:57 am      

Lab to increase safety, analyze stored weapons

The groundbreaking Tuesday of a new analytical laboratory at the Blue Grass Army Depot will mark another step toward preparing for the destruction of chemical weapons in storage.

The building will be better equipped to support the chemical weapons destruction plant, said Dick Sloan, public affairs officer for Blue Grass Chemical Activity (BGCA) located at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

The 2,500-square-foot building will replace the 650-square-foot building constructed 25 years ago.

“There’s going to be additional needed room in the new lab,” said Rhonda Shay, BGCA engineer. “We will create a better working environment for our laboratory technicians and additional work stations to give us the capability to handle all foreseeable laboratory requirements.”

The lab will double the capabilities of the original lab, Sloan said.

“There was a lot of criticism about out lab,” he said. “It’s just old and decrepit, but you can’t have everything at once. And now, it’s time for a new lab.”

The new facility is estimated to cost about $600,000 for construction, and the laboratory equipment is expected to cost about $426,000.

Once constructed, the lab will increase the safety margin for employees, and allows analytical analysis (of weapons in storage) to be done “in a far better environment,” Sloan said.

“We intend to build a very robust laboratory that will take care of all of our monitoring and analytical needs until the stockpile is completely destroyed,” said Lt. Col. Tom Closs, BGCA commander.

An administration area, more storage space and better lighting are a few more perks the new building will offer, Sloan said.

It will be located next to the personnel protective equipment facility that was dedicated in April 2005.

This facility is the U.S. Army’s main provider of both individual protective equipment and chemical defense equipment.

The Army requires that each soldier obtain certain types of protective gear before going into battle. The BGAD stores these items and sends them to mobilization sites prior to soldier deployment.

The personnel protective equipment facility does not play a role in the destruction of the chemical weapons stored at the depot, but is proof that not only are depot employees working toward destroying the deadly nerve-agent-filled weapons, but are still working to supply U.S. soldiers with the protective equipment they need to save their lives during battle, Sloan said.

The new analytical laboratory is scheduled to be complete by the summer of 2008.

The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday and will be on the Blue Grass Army Depot site, and guests are by invitation only.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.