Pearl Harbor Blast Zone: Major Expansion of West Loch Ammunition Depot
JOHN M. BOND KANEHILI HUI REPORT AND TESTIMONY  |
Major Expansion of West Loch Ammunition Depot |
Two Environmental Assessments Reveal Significant High Explosives Munitions Storage Expansion And In Development Military Ocean Terminal For Pearl Harbor To Support U.S Military Indo-Pacific War Force Projection To Counter China Military Expansion |
John M. Bond |
8/24/2020 |
Two Documents: U.S. Navy Magazines for Long Ordnance, JBPHH West Loch Annex and U.S. Army West Loch Ordnance Facilities Draft Environmental Assessment Reveal Near Future Ordinance Magazine Infrastructure Expansion And Plans For Military Ocean Port For Large Navy T-AKE Ammunition Ships
|
Kanehili Cultural Hui P.O. Box 75578 Kapolei, Hi 96707
August 24, 2020
Mark T. Esper, Acting Secretary of Defense
Rear Admiral John W. Korka
Captain James G. Meyer, Commanding Officer
Attn: EV21 Project Mgr. Army West Loch EA NFPAC-Receive@navy.mil
Hawaii Congressional Delegation
Govenor David Ige
Mayor Kirk Caldwell
Hawaii State Legislature
Honolulu City Council
Ewa Neighborhood Board
Kapolei Neighborhood Board
Aloha,
PUBLIC TESTIMONY RE: Army Munitions Complex Plan And Related Navy Long Ordinance Magazines
(Also- please see the below attached references to my testimony conclusions, EQSD arc, etc.)
NAVFAC Pacific has prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) on behalf of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) in accordance with NEPA, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality regulations and Navy regulations for implementing NEPA. JBPHH proposes the U.S. Army’s construction of new magazines and/or repair/modernization of existing magazines to serve as the U.S. Army’s Ammunition Supply Point on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Public Comments Due August 8, 2020
This plan presents the potential for damage and death for Ewa West Oahu residents. This plan has not been vetted or reviewed by the community neighborhood boards, City and State legislative forums. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic this entire process has been largely done without public awareness.
Using a professional explosive blast arc software program and explosive amounts determined from DoD and the US Army’s own EQSD data released to the public for the first time ever in 2018 for MOTSU, the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point in North Carolina, operated by the Army 596th Transportation Brigade, a possible munitions blast radius affecting West Oahu is shown below:
The Vulnerable Building Distance (VBD) extends out to 5833m (3.6 miles) affecting Kapolei, Ewa communities, Kunia-Waipahu, Ford Island-Hickam, Haseko, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point. The blast effect could include a blast wave, shrapnel and in the yellow and green circles could cause large casualties, deaths and flattened buildings. There are numerous historic examples of munitions explosions that include the huge 1917 Halifax, Nova Scotia disaster which killed 2000 and injured 9000 people.
Shrapnel can travel very long distances from the initial explosion and is hot, razor-like shards of metal.
The overpressure blast wave can travel for miles carrying glass, wood debris, concrete over a wide area.
Speaking as a former military dependent whose father was directly involved in nuclear missile command and control, NORAD design and construction, Thule, Greenland, etc. I am very familiar with the military industrial culture around these types of plans. I am not anti-military or against defensive weapons to protect the United States but like President Eisenhower (and former five star Army general) once said “beware of the corrupting influence of the military-industrial complex.” The Army Munitions Complex plans for West Loch will very likely become a continuously expanding facility with ever larger munitions storage of increasingly powerful explosives and missiles. There are plans underway to arm the Army with longer range (100-1000 mile) artillery and tactical missile systems to counter China and Russia.
A hypothetical conflict with China will focus on control of the sea and airspace over the Pacific Ocean. To remain effective, the Army will deploy long-range anti-ship-capable precision strike missiles and long range precision fire artillery against targets hundreds of miles away. The Army is developing a hypersonic missile with a range of 1,500 miles. New air defense threats will include swarming drone attacks. These swarms could be in the thousands and will require totally new defense weapons systems.
The perceived new threat environment will see the disappearance of tanks and helicopters and in their place a new generation of ever more lethal artillery and missile weapons and munitions. The Marine Corps is already discarding tanks and helicopters and many past war concepts because of the Chinese and Russian military weapons that will quickly decimate armored and tactical aviation units. The next war will be extremely explosive, violent, using robotic weapons and AI (artificial Intelligence) decisions.
Above image from Google Earth shows a Virginia class attack submarine at West Loch Pearl Harbor Whiskey Wharf W 4-5 loading up with 12 Tomahawks (cruise missiles) and a larger number (in green) of what are most likely anti-ship Harpoon missiles. Also seen on the far right are two Mk-48 Torpedos. These missiles and torpedoes are stored nearby in West Loch munitions bunkers. All of this is easily seen using Google Earth. None of this is classified information because Russia and China have at least 10 times more powerful spy satellite optics that can likely read the labels on the containers. The military Secret part is where the boat is going, operational codes, etc. The US does the same thing looking at Russian and Chinese military bases.
The US military nuclear policy is to neither confirm nor deny storage of nuclear weapons and there are likely some stored at West Loch such as cruise missiles. However the vast majority of the Navy’s nuclear ballistic missiles (Trident ICBM) for use in the Indo-Pacific theatre are kept at the Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific (SWFPAC), a high-security Navy base in Washington State to service Ohio class ballistic missile submarines. The Virginia class attack submarine weapons can be serviced at West Loch.
So, the really big concerns for West Oahu residents are conventional (non-nuclear) munitions. There has never been a known accidental nuclear weapons explosion (yes many dangerous mishaps with loose bombs, aircraft crashes, etc.) Because conventional munitions are used in such far greater numbers and varieties and transported much more often in and out of bases, ranges and shipped to areas of forward deployment, this is where the greatest danger is. There are many examples of this which I have detailed in this testimony and include the 1941 USS Arizona, 1944 West Loch, 1944 Port Chicago and 1917 Halifax explosions which killed hundreds and thousands and flattened homes and businesses. The USS Arizona was a direct result of a Japanese bomb (actually an artillery shell with fins) and the far greater explosion was a result of the large amount of black powder, gasoline and fuel oil in the ship that the bomb ignited. It only takes a small detonation to set off a much larger more powerful explosion.
It is very notable that neither the Navy nor the Army has directly addressed the very important community issue of accidental munitions explosions, the West Loch explosive blast arc and the levels of danger which exist with all of these new weapons magazines and storage facilities. There has never been any discussion and presentations with the local community as was done by MOTSU, NC in 2018.
Magazines for Long Ordnance, JBPHH West Loch Annex – Comment Period Over
The Proposed Action involves the construction of 24 new magazines for current ordnance storage
requirements at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Oahu, Hawaii. The Proposed Action would also include secondary development necessary for safe ordnance operations such as magazine access roads concrete aprons, utility and site drainage improvements, fire hydrants, construction staging area, a bypass road extending from Iroquois Road to North Road, perimeter fence and associated patrol road, entry control point at Iroquois Road, demolition of existing back gate near the corner of Iroquois Road and West Loch Drive, gate at North Road and Iroquois Avenue, as well as closing West Loch Drive and portions of Iroquois Road and North Road to public access due to safety and security considerations.
NavFac describes the Type D magazine as having 25′ wide doors which are capable of supporting the full length of modern missiles carried by a forklift. The individual magazine dimensions are approximately 160 feet wide by 50 feet long and 20 feet in height. One may assume that these new magazines will be for Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The Army magazines will be identical.
U.S. Army West Loch Ordnance Facilities. Draft Environmental Assessment – Comments Closed
The new munitions storage complex would include 27 new box type D magazines, eight modular storage magazines, and a range of administration and operations support facilities. The new ordnance storage complex at West Loch Annex would be completed under several phases of construction projects beginning in 2022. (Alternative 2 would involve the repair and modernization of the existing magazines, infrastructure, and facilities at Lualualei Annex (Waianae-Nanakuli) to meet the Army's ordnance storage requirements. The No Action alternative would be approximately the same.)
Primary functions at West Loch Annex include ordnance handling at the ammunition wharves, torpedoand missile shop maintenance and ordnance storage. Ordnance enters JBPHH via ship and is unloaded at West Loch Annex. Unloaded ordnance is stored at West Loch Annex or transported over public roadways for storage at Lualualei Annex.
The Navy Lualualei Annex includes 270 earth‐covered magazines (ECMs) and above ground magazines(AGMs). The Army is assigned 110 of these Navy magazines located throughout Lualualei Annex and Interspersed with facilities used by other Department of Defense (DoD) branches. The magazines were constructed between 1932 and 1942. The layout of the structural columns in the magazines do not provide adequate space for storage of today's ammunition (missiles).
There is NOT enough vacant land at West Loch Annex to accomplish the new Type D missile magazines without increasing the Explosives Safety Quantity Distance (ESQD) arc area.
This is in fact based upon the US Army’s MOTSU facility in North Carolina and what they told the local community in 2018. The Army was forced to provide detailed ESQD arc data that has basically never been seen previously anywhere before. The Navy has always avoided talking about any of this and never mentions the ESQD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance) or shows the real danger to the nearby Ewa West Oahu community from explosive munitions that are or will be stored at West Loch.
The EA states Army efficiencies will be had by keeping ordnance on site close to ordnance wharves.
What does this really imply? It appears to mean exactly what the Army’s MOTSU does, which is a storage and transportation facility for large amounts of munitions - that will be used for future Indo-Pacific theatre of operations. With the big change from WW-II, Korea, Vietnam ordinance types the future Army storage is going to be for powerful new missiles, which is why they need 27 of the Type D long missile storage magazines. They also want an additional 8 Modular Storage Magazines which are 25 feet wide, 81 feet long and 18 feet high. Is there an ESQD for this? NO, according to DoD documents.
The Army currently uses 110 magazines at Lualualei Annex including 25-foot wide arched ECMs, 44-foot by-32-foot and 100-foot by-50-foot boxed ECMs, and 100- to 200-foot-long by 50-foot-wide AGMs. ECM means Earth Covered Magazine and AGM means Above Ground Magazine. Replacing all of this at West Loch shows why the current plan is just Phase 1. There will be Phase 2 and Phase 3 additions, etc.
The Army states that Alternative 2 would not change the existing logistical and safety issues of having a single access point for Lualualei through a busy public highway. But in fact there will be transport of the munitions ordinance around the West Loch facility, to and from ships docked at the ordinance wharf, and to Oahu training ranges and to Pohakuloa. All movement of munitions ordinance will be extremely close to and dangerous for the nearby Ewa West Oahu community. The extremely old historic ESQD buffer arc is extremely inadequate for large amounts of high explosive artillery and missile munitions.
2.4 Alternatives considered but not carried forward for Detailed Analysis – (YES, they didn’t do it.)
Siting the Army’s ASP at another location within West Loch Annex was considered as an alternative.However, there are safety, operational, and land use constraints that limit the potential locations for the ASP. To meet safety standards, the new magazines are required to be located at a calculated distance from adjacent residential housing areas. (WHAT “calculated distance”? Isn’t this an ESQD?)
27 Army plus 24 Navy Type D missile magazines = 51 new missile magazines and it is really starting to look like a Pacific MOTSU, a major Pacific munitions storage and wharf operation for the next big war. The important issue here is not that the Army and Navy may require this much storage for all of their missiles and munitions needs but should this much explosive power be put right next to a very large residential community? There has never been any open discussion with the community about all of this. In WW-II the Navy just took all the land they wanted and kicked out local residents. Now the historic ESQD is extremely inadequate for the potential dangers and big disaster that could happen.
In a war or terrorism attack, a missile fired at the West Loch facility could set off an incredible secondary explosion likely 20 times bigger than the initial missile charge that hit it.
Specifically, I have tried for years to find more about the historic West Loch explosion arc and how it was determined. I was finally able to determine it in specific detail and also arrive at various explosion scenarios that would directly affect the local Ewa communities. Extremely helpful in this was finding software that provides significant detail to determine the blast arc circle under various TNT munitions amounts. But best of all I was able to find the directly relevant Army criteria needed to confirm what really has to be considered when I found out about the MOTUS facility in North Carolina. In 2018 the MOTSU reports and community meetings clearly show that the planned West Loch Army Munitions Complex would present a clear and dangerous community disaster threat and the required protective EQSD, etc., is not possible in the location proposed. The NAVFAC Army EA clearly evades this fact.
2.4.3 Repair/Restore Kolekole Pass as an alternative access route to Lualualei Annex
Kolekole Pass provides a direct roadway connection between Schofield Barracks and Lualualei Annex over the Waianae mountain range, but it has been damaged by rockslides and is currently closed. The Army considered reopening the pass as an alternative to provide a secondary ordnance hauling route to and from Lualualei Annex. However, the Army determined it to be impractical because even with the necessary repairs, it would not be a safe ordnance hauling route due to the weight of the ordnance and the size of the trucks required for transport. Therefore, it was eliminated from consideration. (This may not be ideal for the Army but repairing the Kolekole Pass road would be excellent as an emergency evacuation route if there was a major tsunami or hurricane. The statement that “the weight of the ordnance and the size of the trucks required” assumes that Army trucks are not capable of this? Historic photos show since the 1920’s big trucks and tanks used this road. And how much “weight” are they planning to haul? None of this is actually specified. An Army news website stated that the 25th Sustainment Brigade can do ammunition transport mission like this and it is not a big problem. )
3.4.3.2 Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative): New Construction of Magazines and Support Facilities at West Loch Annex
The proposed magazines would be constructed at West Loch Annex in accord with DoD standards, and the ESQD arcs generated by these new magazines would be fully contained within the existing ESQD arcs at West Loch Annex. Therefore, there is no additional public health or safety risk to nearby publicly accessible areas or residential communities. (This is in fact not true. This is NOT in accordance with DoD Army EQSD standards. The planned West Loch Army Munitions Complex does NOT meet the required protective EQSD standards as presented to the public by MOTSU in 2018. The site of the Army Munitions Complex is also significantly further west towards densely populated Ewa community homes than the original Navy historic EQSD determined from Building 1, Whiskey wharf W 1-2-3.)
The Army Munitions Complex would bring in large T-AKE dry cargo/ammunition ships operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command. In this class of 14 ships, 12 ships currently provide combat logistics support to the Navy. Two ships support the Marine Corps at sea as part of the Maritime Prepositioning Force. Navy has dredged the West Loch Channel to bring in these big MSC ships.
With all of these munitions, missiles, etc, coming in to be stored and transported to forward Pacific areas the Army and NAVFAC needs to be honest and tell the Ewa West Oahu community that they will be creating a major Pacific munitions storage and shipping port like MOTSU and that the same EQSD rules and regulations apply. Storing huge amounts of ordinance near a major population has serious consequences that should not and cannot just be just swept under the rug and hidden from them.
4.3.1 Past Actions (This is where the MOTSU plan is unintentionally revealed!)
The Navy also performed construction dredging and widening of portions of the West Loch Channel
(Figure 4-1). The purpose is to provide berthing facilities for the Advanced Auxiliary Dry Cargo Ships (TAKE). The previous depth and width of West Loch Channel had been inadequate for T-AKE vessels to
navigate to Wharves 1-3. The T-AKE is a relatively new Combat Logistics Force Underway Replenishment Naval vessel which is larger than previous ships used to transport ordnance and ammunition. Thus, portions of West Loch Channel were dredged and widened in order to supplement and facilitate ordnance re-supply in support of Navy mission requirements. (Here is the big clue that West Loch is going to become a major Indo-Pacific military munitions terminal, modeled after MOTSU in North Carolina. These large Navy supply and munitions ships are part of the Pacific war logistics strategy that will allow Army and Marine Corps combat deployments with advanced weapons and munitions to forward bases of operation. Basically West Loch will again take on the same role it had in past Pacific wars supporting a Maritime Prepositioning Force. However the local Ewa West Oahu communities are being kept in the dark about the major impacts this force projection will bring in the way of advanced weapons, missiles, etc , all very dangerous, no valid EQSD, literally stored in their backyards.)
I strongly believe that the Army needs to seriously consider using part of the existing Lualualei magazine and improving the Kolekole Pass road to Schofield. There would be federal money to do this and the improved road would also serve as an emergency evacuation route for the Leeward Waianae Nanakuli communities in the event of a major hurricane or tsunami. So this is the best alternative option. There is much more space to safely expand at Lualualei Annex, creating more jobs for Waianae Nanakuli residents and substantially improving the very badly needed Kolekole emergency evacuation route.
What I am most concerned about is the Army and NAVFAC replicating the MOTSU concept at West Loch. With the projected Indo-Pacific plans to counter China’s expansion into the Pacific, there would be very likely “mission creep” and the Army Munitions Complex would continuously grow and expand once they had obtained the area and began building on it. The future directions in defense and armament show lots of new powerful tactical missiles coming online and used by mobile missile units which would be transported and stored at the planned West Loch Army Munitions Complex.
Please don’t deceive the local community about the direction all of this will all go once it gets started. Use the existing remote Lualualei area and improve the Kolekole Pass road. The Army Munitions Complex at West Loch annex does NOT have the EQSD blast zone buffer area to be safe. The DoD and Army’s documents revealed to the local MOTSU community presentations in 2018 clearly show this.
The historic 7405 foot (1.4 mile) ESQD arc radius is clearly NOT SAFE and NOT ADEQUATE
Sincerely,
John Bond, President,
Kanehili Hui
Explosions History and Other Reference Notes:
It is important to know about historic large scale explosions. There have been nuclear weapons accidents that have come close to explosions, but fortunately it has never happened. So we are taking nuclear weapons off the table here and just considering the known history of conventional munitions.
The US Navy actually has a very good record with nuclear weapons and submarines are the best places to keep them for many reasons. There are a lot of safeguards. I am personally much more worried about other countries nuclear weapons management than the US Navy.
The potential of a conventional weapon stockpile disaster is much greater. “Conventional” generally refer to weapons whose ability to damage comes from kinetic or incendiary, or explosive energy and exclude weapons of mass destruction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conventional_weapon
Below are some of the big historic explosions, including two in Pearl Harbor
Hawaii’s largest explosive disasters are the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 and the May 1944 West Loch explosion.
USS Arizona 1941 – It was not the Japanese bomb but the ammunition — hundreds of thousands of pounds of ammunition that caused the massive explosion.
At approximately 8:10 AM, December 7, 1941 the Arizona was struck by a 1,760-pound (800-kg) projectile. The impact caused munitions and fuels to ignite, creating a massive explosion that lifted the battleship out of the water. More than 1,170 crewmen were killed. The explosion touched off fierce fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island in the vicinity.
The forward deck of the Arizona was struck by a 1,760-pound bomb that triggered a massive explosion, lifted the 33,000-ton vessel out of the water and killed 1,177 sailors and Marines instantly. “It wasn’t the bomb itself that created the giant explosion. It was her own ammunition — hundreds of thousands of pounds of ammunition, exploding all at the same time,” Jay Blount, spokesman for the Pearl Harbor National Memorial tells TIME. The ship burned for two and a half days after the initial attack. Blount says that temperatures reached as high as 8000°F — more than three times as hot as lava spurting out of Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano, which erupted last year.
West Loch 1944 - The West Loch Disaster was an accident during World War II at Pearl Harbor. The first explosion occurred just after 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, 1944, in a staging area for Landing Ships, Tank (LSTs) and amphibious assault ships in West Loch. Explosions and fire spread among the ships being prepared for Operation Forager, the invasion of the Mariana Islands. Over 24 hours, six LSTs sank, 163 naval personnel died, and 396 were injured. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Loch_disaster
Port Chicago 1944- The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion that occurred on July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California. Munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring 390 others. In all, the munitions on the pier and in the ship contained the equivalent of approximately 2,000 short tons (1,800 t) of TNT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster
Halifax Explosion 1917- was a disaster that occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the morning of 6 December 1917. SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. A fire on board the French ship ignited her cargo, causing a massive explosion that devastated the Richmond district of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were killed by the blast, debris, fires, or collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured. The blast was the largest human-made explosion at the time, releasing the equivalent energy of roughly 2.9 kilotons of TNT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion
2020 Beirut explosion- On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the port of the city of Beirut, Lebanon, accidentally exploded, causing at least 180 deaths, 6,000 injuries, US$10–15 billion in property damage, and leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless. Around 2,750 tons of the substance had been stored in a warehouse without proper safety measures for six years. The blast occurred when fireworks stored in the same building caught fire and detonated the ammonium nitrate. The explosion, equivalent to around 1.1 kilotons of TNT (4.6 TJ) was detected by the US Geological Survey as a seismic event of magnitude 3.3; was felt in Turkey, Syria, Israel, and parts of Europe; and was heard in Cyprus more than 250 km (160 mi) away. It is considered to be one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Beirut_explosion
The Beirut explosion was not a result of military munitions but shows the blast pressure wave effect that did enormous damage miles away.
10 KM (6.2 miles) away from the explosion site and the glass of buildings were shattered.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1290671474269986822
https://izispicy.com/img/img13/20200805/gifs/huge_explosion_in_port_of_beirut_lebanon_23.gif
Software used to determine ESQD - (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance)
United Nations ITAG (International Technical Ammunitions Guideline) which scales to net explosives input:
https://www.un.org/disarmament/un-saferguard/map/
for Pearl Harbor West Loch use these cordinates:
Latitude: 21.345589355722055
Longitude: -158.01463734402498
What is the purpose of ESQD?
ESQD represents the prescribed minimum distance between sites storing or handling hazard Class 1 explosive material and specified exposures (i.e., inhabited buildings, public highways, public railways, other storage or handling facilities or ships, aircraft, etc.) to afford an acceptable degree of protection and safety.
USACE Explosives Safety and Health Requirements manual
Defense Acquisition University – Explosives handling training courses
If these distances are not maintained, an explosive event can propagate rapidly between sites, resulting in the destruction of all ammunition and explosives assets, rendering the unit incapable of performing its mission, and denying access to the area until explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) can render safe damaged items. Although prompt propagation is not expected, collateral damage to ammunition on nearby storage sites and operating facilities may be so severe that the assets may become unserviceable.
EXTERNAL DISTANCES External distances are those required for the separation of personnel and facilities that are outside the confines of an ammo storage area and are not directly related to or associated with the ammo storage area mission. These external distances are described as • inhabited building distance (IBD) and • public traffic route distance (PTRD). Examples of IBD are the installation boundary, dining facilities, billeting, MWR facilities, medical facilities, tactical operations center, fuel and water storage, and other life support facilities. Examples of PTRD are on base roads (external to the ammo area), power lines, navigable rivers, open-air recreational facilities, and open-air training ranges. Generally, PTRD is 60 percent IBD.
HAZMAT Class 1 Explosives
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAZMAT_Class_1_Explosives
https://www.ime.org/content/tnt_calculator
Enter the weight of the explosive in either pounds or kilograms: | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Enter the heat of combustion or the heat of explosion of the explosive: | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
The equivalent amount of TNT is: | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
If the number of Short Tons is larger than 300, you should submit USGS form 9-4040-A. Although submission of USGS form 9-4040-A is not mandatory, IME recommends that applicable mining operations submit the form to keep U.S. antiproliferation authorities informed. |
Pearl Harbor Navy Whiskey Wharves W1 & W2 - HABS HAER US Congress historic archives
https://www.loc.gov/item/hi0289/
Document shows Whiskey wharves W1 & W2 and various ESQD, one of which shows origination point near Building 1 and 7405 feet distance = 1.4 miles going west to Ewa communities. This is an historic map and does not reflect current conditions. However it shows various ESQD radius calculations (based on what explosives?) were in use decades ago when Ewa was virtually ALL open space cane fields.
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/hi/hi0200/hi0289/data/hi0289data.pdf
PHOTOS FROM SURVEY HABS HI-166
https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.hi0289.photos?st=gallery
Building No. 1 constituted a prominent element of the National Historic Landmark and played a major role in the operation of the Pearl Harbor Naval Base.
Explosive Hazards – Blast Overpressure
https://slideplayer.com/slide/8064153/
Explosive Hazards. Blast Pressure (Overpressure) M Detonation can exert pressures of up to 700 tons per square inch on the atmosphere = 13,000 mph Pressures of up to 700 tons per square inch on the atmosphere = 13,000 mph Pres
Overpressure - NOAA
Overpressure, also called a blast wave, refers to the sudden onset of a pressure wave after an explosion. This pressure wave is caused by the energy released in the initial explosion—the bigger the initial explosion, the more damaging the pressure wave. Pressure waves are nearly instantaneous, traveling at the speed of sound. Although a pressure wave may sound less dangerous than a fire or a toxic cloud, it can be just as damaging and just as deadly. The pressure wave radiates outward and generates hazardous fragments (such as building debris and shattered glass). Additionally, these waves can damage buildings or even knock them flat—often injuring or killing the people inside them. The sudden change in pressure can also affect pressure-sensitive organs like the ears and lungs. The table at the bottom of this page relates overpressure values to the structural and physiological effects produced.
EPA and Size of ESQD Arc
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/wrkgrp_min_11_4-5_04.pdf
EPA Meeting: The size of the ESQD arc is proportional to the NEW present (DON Explosive Safety Manual). The group discussed whether it was more appropriate to continue using the ESQD or change to using the Hazardous Fragmentation Distance, which is generally larger than the ESQD and more concerned for the safety of people rather than the distance in relation to structures.
CONSENSUS: Consensus was reached on using the Hazardous Fragmentation Distance rather than
ESQD in this category. In addition, the name of this input factor will be changed to “places where people congregate” to reflect that the primary concern is for people rather than facilities or buildings.
DON (Dept of Navy) Explosive Safety Manual
U.S. DoD explosives safety standards and security requirements:
Explosion Hazards Modeling
• TNT Equivalent Modeling
• Propellant Combustion Modeling
• Confined Explosions
• Detonations and Deflagrations
• Hypergolic Propellants
• Blast Contours and Blast Loads on Buildings
Equivalent Protection Studies
• Overpressure Analysis
• Thermal Contours
• Hazardous Fragment Distance Evaluations
• Separation by Time
• Evaluation of Protective Structures
Fragment Hazards
• Primary Fragments and Shrapnel from Munitions and
Laboratory / Production Equipment
• TP-13 Analysis for Building Debris Throw
• Design of Barricades to Prevent Perforation by
Hazardous Debris and Protect Personnel
Thermal Hazards
• Propellant Burn Modeling
• Thermal Radiation Contours
• Thermal Propagation Throughout Facility (Down
Corridors, Under Doors, Across Vestibules)
Structural Design
• Blast Resistant Structural Design
• Containment and Cubicle Design
• Remote Operating Bays
• Blast Doors
• Substantial Dividing Wall (SDW) Application
• Magazines and Magazine Headwalls
• Conventional Structural Design
• Drawing Packages
• Design Build Support
