Our Mission
Safely secure, store, and monitor the chemical stockpile while protecting the workforce, the public, and the environment; prepare for and support stockpile elimination; and transition the depot and the workforce for closure.
Safely secure, store, and monitor the chemical stockpile while protecting the workforce, the public, and the environment; prepare for and support stockpile elimination; and transition the depot and the workforce for closure.
Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) originally housed 2,611 tons (2,369 metric tons) of mustard agent in approximately 780,000 munitions, which comprised about eight percent of the nation’s original toxic chemical materiel stockpile. The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity (CMA) oversees the secure storage at PCD, ensuring the chemical agents and munitions are safely protected and monitored.
To accomplish this safe storage, chemical agents and munitions are housed in designated storage areas and specially designed earth-covered magazines, commonly referred to as storage igloos or bunkers located on highly secure military installations where all Department of Defense and Army safety and security regulations are followed. The igloos at PCD are specially constructed with many security and safety measures and processes, designed for the storage of chemical agents, ammunition and explosives. The igloos help keep chemical agents and munitions secure and protected from natural forces and man-made threats. Each igloo is made of steel-reinforced concrete and designed to safely store explosives.
Among the many security and safety procedures conducted are routine and random around-the-clock patrols to verify the security of chemical agent storage areas. Crews conduct regular, routine visual inspections of the munitions to ensure that safe storage practices are maintained and the physical condition of the igloo will continue to protect the chemical munitions.
CMA is fully committed to the safety of the public, the workforce and the environment. Initial training of the workforce and certification in the Army’s Personnel Reliability Program, followed by regular retraining and recertification, help ensure safety is maintained at all times. PCD will continue to ensure that chemical agent and munitions stockpiles remain safely secure and stored as they transition to the destruction facility.
PCD is home to the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, operated under the Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives. PCD transfers munitions to PCAPP for destruction; together, operating to safely and efficiently destroy the chemical weapons stockpile while we keep the community, the workforce and the environment safe.
The mountain has been an element that has graced many of the past depot emblems, representing Pike’s Peak.
The Pershing Missile in the center represents one of the most prominent missions of the depot in the 1980s.
The hawk represents native depot wildlife, the present and future mission of the environmental programs, and was also the name of one of the missile systems supplied by the depot during its missile mission in the 1950s and 60s.
The branch insignia of both the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and Ordnance Corps represent the depot’s command structure through its history as both an ordnance and a chemical depot.
The colors cobalt blue and yellow gold are representative of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps. “Pueblo Depot” is representative of the installation throughout its history. “1942” is the date of establishment. “Safety” and “Service” capture the continued and historical depot missions.
The motto translates to “A Common Good.”
The rising sun denotes the dawning of a new day without chemical weapons and the organization’s mission to safely destroy chemical weapons stockpile, thus changing the future of modern warfare.
The three stalks of wheat symbolize the harvest of hope that has been secured through industry, cultivation and abundance. It also refers to the unit’s chemical/biological, smoke/obscurant and support to Homeland security industrial base missions at Pine Bluff Arsenal.
The double-headed eagle suggests the two CMA methods for stockpile chemical weapons disposal, incineration and neutralization. These methods’ roots are traced back to Project Eagle I (incinerating of mustard agents) and Eagle II (neutralizing nerve agents).
The olive branch signifies peace and the Activity’s commitment to abide by the stipulations of the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty and assisting other nations.
The octagon alludes to the eight original chemical weapons stockpile storage sites in the United States.