Deseret Chemical Depot will take longer to close than previously expected, meaning massive workforce layoffs at one of Tooele County’s largest employers won’t begin in earnest until next year.
URS, the main contractor responsible for destroying the chemical weapons stockpile at the DCD, announced last week it has moved its closure timetable back by 14 months. The process of decontamination and decommissioning the chemical agent disposal facility is taking longer than originally expected, according to Mark Mesesan, communications specialist for URS.
The revised closure timetable also means a revised staff reduction plan. All layoffs of the remaining 1,062 employees at URS and its subcontractor, Battelle, were scheduled to be completed by July 2014, but according to the new plan, final layoffs will be completed by September 2015.
The process of decontaminating secondary waste is taking longer than what was estimated when the original closure plan was developed.
While the destruction of chemical weapons concluded in January, the metal parts furnace is being used to burn secondary waste — material that was involved in the storage, handling or destruction of the chemical weapons, according to Mesesan. Tooele Transcript
