Blue Grass Army Depot

Blue Grass Army Depot is an active U.S. Army installation located near Richmond in east central Kentucky, southeast of Lexington. It was established in 1941 as an ammunition storage depot, and beginning in 1944 the Army shipped chemical weapons there, eventually stockpiling roughly 523 tons of mustard and nerve agents (including GB and VX) in rockets and projectiles. For decades the depot served both as a conventional munitions storage site and as one of the nation's chemical-weapons storage locations. After many years of planning, destruction of the stockpile was carried out through the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant and an explosive destruction technology process, with the final munition reported destroyed in July 2023. The installation remains an active Joint Munitions Command facility today.

As with many long-operating military installations, activities at Blue Grass Army Depot have raised concerns about potential exposure to several environmental contaminants. The depot has been included in broader assessments of groundwater and water supplies, and it was selected for further investigation under a joint federal sampling effort focused on certain chemicals near Army sites.

1. PFAS are a large family of synthetic "forever chemicals" that resist breakdown in the environment and the body. Blue Grass Army Depot was named as one of nine priority installations in a joint EPA and U.S. Army project to sample private drinking water wells for PFAS near Army installations, reflecting concerns tied to past firefighting activities. PFAS have been associated in some studies with effects on the immune system, the thyroid, and certain cancers.
2. PFOS is one of the most studied individual PFAS compounds and was a common ingredient in older firefighting foams. Its potential presence near the depot is part of the reason for the PFAS sampling work being conducted there. PFOS exposure has been associated with concerns about possible effects on cholesterol levels, liver function, and immune response.
3. PFOA is another widely used PFAS compound historically linked to industrial and firefighting products. Like PFOS, it is among the substances being evaluated in water near Army installations such as this one. PFOA has been associated in research with concerns about kidney and testicular cancers and other health effects.
4. AFFF, or aqueous film-forming foam, is a firefighting foam that the Department of Defense used to suppress fuel fires beginning in the 1970s and that historically contained PFAS. Use and release of AFFF during training and emergency response is widely considered a primary source of PFAS reaching groundwater at military sites, and it is the underlying reason for the PFAS assessments connected to the depot.
5. RDX and other explosives are energetic compounds associated with munitions storage and handling, consistent with the depot's long role as an ammunition facility. Kentucky regulators require groundwater around the site to be tested for explosives among other contaminants, and RDX has been studied for its potential to move through groundwater. Exposure to certain explosive compounds has been associated with concerns about effects on the nervous system and other organs.

Blue Grass Army Depot is not listed on the EPA National Priorities List (Superfund). Environmental work at the installation is overseen primarily by the Kentucky Division of Waste Management under hazardous waste permitting and corrective action authority, which requires monitoring of groundwater for volatile organic compounds, explosives, chemical agents, and other contaminants. The PFAS-related investigation near the depot is being advanced through the joint EPA and Army sampling project, and the Department of Defense has continued long-term evaluation and cleanup of identified sites at the installation.

Veterans, civilian workers, and family members who spent time at Blue Grass Army Depot may wish to stay informed as sampling and investigation results become available. Anyone with questions about possible exposures and related health care or benefits is encouraged to speak with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and a personal health care provider, who can offer guidance based on individual circumstances.