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NOTICE OF <br />EMERGENCY PERMIT <br />FOR DETONATION OF EXPLOSIVE <br />ASSEMBLIES <br />TO <br />LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY, <br />SITE 300 <br />Corral Hollow Road, Tracy, CA <br />EPA ID CA2 890090002 <br />On Sept. 29, 1993, the California Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Toxic <br />Substances Control (DTSC) verbally approved an emergency permit to allow Lawrence Livermore <br />National Laboratory (LLNL) to detonate, as hazardous waste, four explosive assemblies containing a <br />combined weight of approximately four pounds of an experimental Class 1.1 (mass detonable) <br />propellant. The permit allowed LLNL to detonate the explosive assemblies on Thursday, Sept. 30. <br />The detonation occurred as planned, at Site 300, near Tracy, on a firing table near where the <br />propellant was stored, using four 2 -pound charges of C-4 explosive. <br />DTSC issued the emergency permit in accordance with Title 22, California Code of Regulations, <br />section 66270.61, after finding that the instability of the explosive assemblies presented an imminent <br />and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment. DTSC found that the assemblies <br />could not be transported safely; nor, because of the casings in which it was housed, could the unstable <br />propellant be destroyed by burning. The agency determined that open detonation was the safest <br />means of disposal for the material. DTSC directed LLNL to follow Operational Safety Procedures <br />specified in LLNL's Sept. 28, 1993, emergency permit application, and comply with additional <br />conditions specified in the agency's emergency permit approval, signed Sept. 30. <br />According to its emergency permit application, LLNL received the explosive assemblies <br />approximately a month earlier as samples of experimental propellant. LLNL's analysis found that the <br />presence of brass or copper reduced the stability of the propellant, which contained ammonium <br />dinitramine, hydroxyl -terminated polybutadiene and aluminum powder. Brass pins imbedded in the <br />propellant were causing it to degrade, becoming sensitive to heat and shock, and unstable. <br />Copies of the emergency permit application and emergency permit are available at: <br />Tracy Public Library <br />20 East Eaton Ave. <br />Tracy, CA <br />Livermore Public Library <br />1000 S. Livermore Ave. <br />Livermore, CA <br />October 4, 1993 <br />