Workers at the Oquirrh Mountain Facility (OMF) plant, formerly known as the Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System (CAMDS) have reached the 50 percent mark in a labor-intensive project of removing the propellant explosive components from over 20,000 mustard 4.2-inch mortars stored at Deseret Chemical Depot.

Prior to the start-up of the TOCDF in 1996, stockpile storage crews, completed phase one of this project by reconfiguring 23,000 4.2-inch mortars.

Phase two of this project began in September 2003, and requires all remaining 4.2-inch mortars to be shipped from the chemical stockpile area to the OMF plant where workers in an “assembly line process” remove the propellant portion of the mortars to speed up the destruction process at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (TOCDF). After the process, the mortars are then re-palletized and transported back to the DCD stockpile storage area where they will be stored until the mustard destruction campaign begins, scheduled for 2005.

“I congratulate you for safely meeting this milestone. This team effort requires extreme concentration and attention to detail,” DCD Commander Col. Peter C. Cooper said as he addressed the workers last Wednesday. “Your hard work will help meet our goal having all mustard filled munitions ready and waiting for the destruction process.”

Approximately 22 workers are assigned to this project. After completion, over 63,000 mortars will have gone through the propellant extraction process. The project should be completed this fall.

The TOCDF is now destroying VX agent-related munitions. The VX campaign is scheduled for completion late this year. To date, the TOCDF has destroyed over 6, 514 tons of chemical agent since the plant began operations in August 1996, according to a press release.