With the decades-long project of destroying chemical weapons once housed at the Central Kentucky site complete, the workforce there is being whittled down.
But Craig Williams, who has been the public's go-to guy when it comes to the weapons destruction initiative, said the layoffs were always expected.
"That number and the timing on that has been planned for quite a while," he told WUKY. "As specific jobs within the program no are no longer needed, those workers are going to get let go. So there will be an incremental reduction in force as efforts to reach completion get accomplished."
Williams said that doesn't mean the federal government and contractors aren't looking for ways to reassign the highly trained workforce.
"There is a focus on not just having this large workforce just disappear," he said. "That's the ultimate objective here — not only to provide them with gainful employment, but to also increase the number of transitions into the local and regional communities."
As for any new operations that may arrive, Williams said there is movement on that front, but he's not at liberty to give details.
"There has been some indication of some entities moving into the area due to the specific talents of the workers there now," Williams hinted.
All facilities in the depot that chemical agents have touched are being decontaminated, demolished, and removed from the site.