Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Established a decade prior to World War II, the “rad lab”, as it was first called, has maintained a strong presence at the UC Berkeley campus since that time. Today the national laboratory is operated by the Department of Energy and it continues with its radiation research.

The founders’ day activities at this private gala will undoubtedly evoke many memories of the good old days, including scientific advancements, Nobel Prizes, and recognition of those men and women who put the lab and Berkeley on the world map. It’s unlikely that very many will speak about its legacy of pollution and the undeniable impact that has had on the facility and its environs.

During the 1940s, expansion shifted most the lab’s operations to the hill above the campus. As a result, most of the lab’s research has been hidden from public view. For over half a century, Berkeley’s “stealth” laboratory has operated in a climate that has promoted little thought for the public or environmental management.

This “scientific” mindset at LBNL has been difficult to overcome and has been accompanied by an academic arrogance that seems to be associated with higher education and Nobel Prizes. Few residents have been able to question the lab’s poor environmental record without feeling the brunt of LBNL’s self-righteous rhetoric and endless recitations of its connections with the Manhattan Project, breast cancer research and solar panels.

However, there has to be more to science than generating new discoveries. It is also about taking responsibility for the dangers produced by research. Perhaps it’s unfair to point to the lab’s environmental transgressions during the war since little was understood about radiation and its deadly effects at that time. But today, it is fair to look at LBNL’s more recent history and necessary to challenge its failed responsibility to environmental stewardship. Excerpt from LBNL: 75 Years of Science, 75 Years of Pollution

NEW Comments on Review of Radiological Monitoring at LBNL Preliminary Technical Report by Bernd Franke and Anthony Greenhouse of IFEU. By Roger Byrne, December 3, 2000 Coming soon NEW Contaminant Plumes of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Interrelationship to faults, Landslides, and Streams in Strawberry Canyon, Oakland and Berkeley, California. Laurel Collins, Geomorphologist Watershed Sciences, March 2007 NEW Environmental Monitoring of Present and Reconstruction of Past Tritium Emissions From the National Tritium Labeling Facility at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California. By Roger Byrne, Geography Department, University of California, Berkeley, California Coming soon

Bevatron Landmark Historic Resources

LBNL Environmental Management Information

• Rush Hour Radioactive Shipment Riles City
  Will Harper, Berkeley Voice, July 4, 1996
• Residents Question Lab Safety: Despite Expansion, Officials Call Health Risks Unlikely
  Larry Luong, Contributing Writer, Daily Californian, April 19, 1996
• Council May Urge Lab to Reduce Use of Hazardous Materials
  Apul Kirit Patel, Daily Californian, March 5, 1996
• RCRA Comments to LBNL Sitewide Cleanup,Draft Corrective Measures Study (CMS), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Initial Study, Negative Declaration, Statement of Basis and Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).by Pamela Sihvola & L A Wood
  To: Waqar Ahmad, Project Manager Department of Toxic Substances Control & Hemant Patel, Project Manager
  US Department of Energy, June 7, 2005
• RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) Corrective Action at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/CMS (Corrective Measures Study) Report by Pamela Sihvola & L A Wood.To: California Regional Water Quality Control Board San Francisco Bay Region, July 20, 2004
• Appeal and request for a high level administrative review of DTSC’s Decision For the Approval of Corrective Measures Study Report and Remedy Selection for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) To: Watson Gin, Deputy Director Hazardous Waste Management Program DTSC September 30, 2005
• RCRA MAPS (2004) Corrective Measures Study LBNL (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) Corrective Action
• Letter to the Berkeley City Council, February 28, 2003 & the U S Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), Region 9, regarding the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL) Delisting Petition.
• Hazardous Waste Management System; Proposed Exclusion for Identifying and Listing Hazardous Waste and a Determination of Equivalent Treatment published in the Federal Register/Vol. 67,No. 147/ July 31, 2002.
  [SW-FRL-7252-7] To: Rich Vaille, Associate Director February 5, 2003 Waste Management Division (WST-1) U S EPA, Region IX
• LBNL: 75 Years of Science, 75 Years of Pollution
  L A Wood, Berkeley Daily Planet, August 25-27, 2006
• Strawberry Canyon View (ca. 1954-69)
  

National Tritium Labeling Facility
History of Tritium Labeling Facility (NTLF) coming soon

• Radioactive Trees at the Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science...LBNL chopped down and chip a grove of trees contaminated with tritium at the Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science.
• Plan Outlines Closure of Tritium Facility
  John Geluardi, Berkeley Daily Planet, January 5, 2002
• Community Claims Victory in Tritium Facility Closure
  John Geluardi, Berkeley Daily Planet, September 15, 2001
• City Pulls Out of Tritium Talks
  Marc Albert, Berkeley Voice, April 29, 1999
• Lab plans high-cost cleanup of tritium emissions
  L A Wood, Oakland Tribune February 2, 1997
• The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Tritium Emissions
  L A Wood, Berkeley Voice, January 9, 1997
• Trouble with Tritium at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  L A Wood, Berkeley Voice, September 12, 1996
• Close the Tritium Labeling Facility
  Mark MacDonald, Berkeley Daily Planet, May 7, 2001
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California say no to US EPA and its Berkeley community partners and reject real time monitoring of tritium at Lawrence Hall of Science. March 28, 2001
  Press Release Contacts: Pamela Sihvola & Gene Bernardi
• NEW Comments on Review of Radiological Monitoring at LBNL Preliminary Technical Report by Bernd Franke and Anthony Greenhouse of IFEU By Roger Byrne, December 3, 2000
• Video transcription of questions and comments on the Franke-Greenhouse IFEU Report
  of Radiological Monitoring at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
  Community Meeting at the North Berkeley Senior Center April 2, 2001

Melvin Calvin Laboratory History and Environmental Records under construction

Additional Newspaper Articles
Dangerous Brew
Helen Caldicott, M.D. Berkeley Voice, October 17, 1996
Unsafe at Any Dose
John W. Gofman, M.D. Berkeley Voice September 19, 1996

Video Records

EH&S Hazardous Waste Handling Facility: Acid House, Public Hearing at the International House (September 1994) University of California, Berkeley regarding the construction of a new chemical waste facility in the Strawberry Canyon just above the university central campus.

LBNL De-Listing Petition: Community Meeting at the Berkeley Adult School, West Campus, (February 28, 2000) A discussion over the Laboratory's "oxidation" of its radiocactive mixed waste. Footage includes discussion and community comments.

LBNL Delisting Petition (2003)...a US EPA Public Hearing held at the North Berkeley Senior Center with the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Environmental Sampling Task Force meeting(s) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2000) More to come...

When Toxics Aren't Toxic: Accelerating Environmental Cleanup (1998)...DOE workshop on Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ..."Pathways to Closure" Viewed on cable access in Berkeley.

Tritium In Berkeley: Community Radiation Workshop with IFEU (2001) a public workshop including community presentations and presentation by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) regarding radiation releases and environmental management at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Long Range Development Plan for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2000)...a public scoping meeting.

Alameda County Board of Supervisors (2000)...a public meeting regarding radiation emissions from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the impact on the the Lawrence Hall of Science, a children's museum in Berkeley.

Radioactive Berkeley: No Safe Dose(1996) Tritium releases at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 100 meters from the Lawrence Hall of Science. Also examines the dangers of low level ionizing radiation. Includes representatives from LBNL, the community, and Dr. John Gofman, M.D. Council presentation.

Radioactive Berkeley: Pathway to Exposure (1998) Council presentation on the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Tritium Labeling Facility and its impact on the Lawrence Hall of Science. Features community members and their concerns as well as Green Action and Helen Caldicott.

Earth day 1999: Tritium Press Conference (1999)...Community Withdraws From Tritium Issues Work Group This workshop was set up as a forum to address citizens concerns over the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its radiation use and emissions. LBNL, US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection, California Departments of Toxic Substances Control and Health Services as well as community representatives.

Tritium Trickle Down (1998) Demonstration on UC campus with community speakers addressing Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Tritium facility and its emissions. Includes LBNL's open house activities.

Environmental Sampling Work Group LBNL (2000/2001)

Save the Strawberry Creek Watershed (2004) 14 :00 TRT...the Berkeley community speaks out on Nano Technology at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.