Tri-Valley CAREs
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
Site 300 blast update
December 4, 2021
Source: Tracy Press
On July 12, 2018, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District held a public hearing in the Tracy City Council Chambers to allow the public to comment on Lawrence Livermore Lab’s proposal to increase the weight of their high explosive compounds in open air blasts at Site 300’s High Explosives Testing Range.
The Lab is asking to increase its currently approved 100 pounds of high explosive compounds per outdoor blast to 1,000 pounds, a 10-times increase.
These blasts involve potential adverse impacts to air quality, noise, encroaching population (including Tracy Hills, Mountain House and other new Tracy housing developments) re-suspension of radioactive particles in soils, and a slow-down of the cleanup needed for the present contamination at the firing site.
Over a year later, we are still waiting for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s decision. As a Tracy resident who testified in 2018, I hope that the District will deny the permit. But there is no guarantee.
Site 300 is located on Corral Hollow Road, less than a mile from the new Tracy Hills housing development and across the street from the Carnegie State Vehicle Recreation Area and Campground.
Please join me for a community update on this situation at a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. For more details, visit Tri-Valley CAREs’ website at trivalleycares.org.
Gail Rieger,
Tracy