RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — A large empty vessel used in chemical weapons destruction is set to make its way to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in Richmond.
Over the weekend, law enforcement agencies will escort a 200-foot-long tractor trailer carrying the vessel from Lexington to Richmond. Blue Grass Army Depot officials say the vessel is nearly 50-feet tall and weighs about 100 tons.
During plant operations, the vessel will house inert nitrogen gas while the chemical weapons stockpile is destroyed. The vessel has traveled about 1,800 miles from southeastern Idaho to Kentucky.
The pilot plant is being built to destroy a stockpile of chemical weapons currently in storage at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
The under construction plant will destroy 523 tons of munitions containing blister and nerve agents.