Contaminant Plumes of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and their Interrelation to Faults, Landslides, and Streams in Strawberry Canyon, Berkeley and Oakland, California

Abstract

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), initially called the UC Radiation Laboratory, was originally located on the University of California Berkeley (UCB) central campus in Alameda County during 1932. By 1940, it was relocated to its present site in the steep hills of Strawberry Canyon east of the Hayward Fault and the central UCB campus. The first major facility, the 184-inch synchrocyclotron was built with funds from both private and university sources, and was used in the Manhattan Project in the development of the world’s first nuclear bomb. Beginning in 1948 the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and then its successor agency, the Department of Energy (DOE) funded the lab while it continued to expand its facilities in Strawberry Canyon. For over 60 years radioactive and chemical releases and accidents have contaminated the once beautiful, pristine watershed of the Strawberry Canyon and nearby wild lands. In 1991 the DOE\u27s Tiger Team assessment found 678 violations of DOE regulations covering management practices at LBNL finding Berkeley-Oakland air, soil, and water contaminated with tritium and other radioactive substances and toxic chemicals. The report addresses the need to compile and develop publicly accessible maps of Strawberry Canyon, which show the geologic and geomorphic characteristics that might influence ground and surface water movement near known LBNL contaminant sites. The intent of this map compilation project is to show where there is or is not agreement among the various technical reports and scientific interpretations of Strawberry Canyon. This research was completed money allocated during Round 6 of the Citizens’ Monitoring and Technical Assessment Fund (MTA Fund). Clark University was named conservator of these works. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at [email protected]://commons.clarku.edu/toxicwaste/1001/thumbnail.jp