Will Harper, Berkeley Voice, July 4, 1996

Rush Hour Radioactive Shipment Riles City

What was Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory thinking when it shipped radioactive waste down one of Berkeley's busiest streets to Interstate 80 during rush hour last week?

That's what city officials and environmentalists are wondering.

The lab packed 200 gallons of low-level radioactive waste -- including plutonium, uranium and tritium -- in a semi-trailer truck headed for a dumpsite across the country in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The truck was escorted by university police to the highway on Monday, June 24 at 4 p.m.

But the lab didn't phone city toxics officials to notify them about the shipment until Friday at 5:30 p.m. By then, all the division's employees had gone home for the weekend.

"How absurd to call the city of Berkeley 5:30 in the evening," said local environmental watchdog L A Wood, "There isn't anyone in Berkeley who would attempt to call city government in the evening on a Friday and expect to get anyone here."

David McGraw, the lab's environmental director said lab officials called Berkeley's fire department at 7:45 a.m. Monday morning. McGraw said the lab notifies the city when it ships hazardous waste as a courtesy, but isn't legally required to do so.

"The shipment went out appropriately, it was inspected, it went out consistent with all regulations and escorted by police to (Interstate) 80 along the defined route we've agreed upon with the city of Berkeley," he said.

McGraw told the City Council the day after that the lab had planned to send the shipment out at noon. But it was delayed because the truck driver was late, the materials had to be inspected, and there was a lot of paperwork, he said.

Lab officials say the shipment had only a very small amount of radioactive waste and was going to be recycled as fuel.

But city representatives were perplexed.

"I think we need to have proper, timely warning said Councilwoman Diane Woolley-Bauer. "Rush hour is certainly not the appropriate time to make" such a shipment of radioactive waste.

Mayor Shirley Dean asked McGraw to write the city a letter explaining what happened.

L A Wood said the lab should restrict its toxics shipments to times when there are fewer people on the road, like at midnight.

But lab officials have said they are not required to notify the city in advance, but do so as a courtesy.

LBNL is a U.S. Dept. of Energy lab managed by the University of California that conducts unclassified scientific research. The lab is located in the hills above the university.

Concerns over hazardous and radioactive waste at the lab have risen since LBNL applied to the state for permission to increase its toxic storage capacity last year. But there has been little public debate about how those toxic materials are transported off-site.

At last week's meeting of the Community Environmental Advisory Commission, the commission discussed what local restrictions could be imposed on the lab's toxic waste shipments. While Berkeley is as self-declared nuclear-free zone, the federal lab says it is exempt from the local regulation.

Commissioner Janice Thomas said the committee also discussed imposing time-restrictions on toxic waste shipments, but came to no conclusions. Thomas said it was a complex issue because one time wasn't necessarily better than another. For example, she said, while midnight may sound more reasonable than rush-hour, there are also more drunk drivers on the road.

Thomas, who lives in the Panoramic Hill neighborhood next to the lab, said the commission will be discussing the issue at future meetings. "I don't think this is going to die anytime soon," she said.

Toxics manager Nabil Al-Hadithy said the city attorney is examining whether local regulations have any legal authority over the lab and its shipment of toxic waste.