Wastewater Leaks At Colorado Plant Housing Chemical Weapons

The army announced earlier this month that nearly 450 gallons of hazardous wastewater had leaked from a tank at a Colorado plant where chemical weapons are destroyed.

Officials stated that there was no threat to workers or communities nearby from the spill at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

In an article appearing in The Virginian-Pilot, the Associated Press reported that site project manager Gregory Mohrman explained that the wastewater had leaked when the seals on a tank had failed. The plant shut down while the cause of the failure was investigated and no reopening date has been given.

Mohrman confirmed the wastewater was confined to a containment area and cleaned up.

Sandy Romero, a spokeswoman for Bechtel Corp. told the AP that “the wastewater was primarily salty water called hydrolysate, produced when mustard agent is neutralized with hot water and a caustic chemical.” She added that the waste contained no mustard agent.

The plant is destroying about 780,000 shells filled with 2,600 tons of mustard agent under an international treaty.

Separately, officials said they were investigating how rainwater leaked through a liner in another containment area at the plant late last month. The rainwater did not get into the plant's neutralization process, Romero said in an email to the AP.

Mohrman said state officials were notified at the time of each incident.