West Loch Blast Zone

The vast majority of illegal Hawaii fireworks come in shipping containers. The money goes to Chinese Communist Party

2020-11-09T15:16:00.003-08:00

Compiled by Ewa Historian John Bond

The vast majority of illegal Hawaii fireworks come in shipping containers. The money goes to Chinese Communist Party business bureaucrats like Fireworks Kingpin Mr. Ding

Making China Great Again. For Fireworks, U.S. Almost Totally Depends On China according to investigative reports by the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Los Angeles Times, India Today and Other Investigative media.

Report on Hawaii and US Fireworks from major investigative news organizations

"Ninety-nine percent of the backyard consumer fireworks come directly from China," said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. "And about 70 percent of the professional display fireworks are manufactured in China."

The American Pyrotechnics Association estimates that Americans spend more than $1 billion on fireworks each year. The vast majority of that money goes to a mysterious “Mr. Ding” and Chinese Communist Party bureaucrats. But despite the exploding China trade deficit President Trump never directed any protectionist crackdown or trade tariffs on the China fireworks mafia that put nearly all American fireworks companies out of business. WHY?

Companies founded by Ding have arranged the transportation of 241 million pounds of fireworks, loaded onto 7,400 containers from China to the United States. (It was Republican President Richard Nixon, who “opened China” that allowed the takeover of the US Fireworks business by Communist China.)

Much of Hawaii’s illegal fireworks come from containers sent to Nevada where they are sold to resellers who smuggle them into West Coast cities and Hawaii. Often smugglers also handle illegal weapons and hard drugs. Illegal fireworks come into the United States primarily through four Western ports— Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle. And then to Honolulu.

The Police in California and Hawaii complain that once all of the illegal fireworks get distributed there is almost nothing under the laws that they can do to prosecute anyone. If not stopped by container inspections in entry ports it is usually too late. There are warehouses filled with fireworks that exist solely because it is close to the California border, or in industrial areas like Kalaeloa Barbers Point for distribution on Oahu and State-wide.

Fireworks that are illegal almost everywhere else are easily purchased in huge quantities in large stores in places like Clark County, Nevada. The fireworks are often relabeled with graphics showing large gorillas, nearly naked girls, military commandos and American flags. But $$$ All Making China Great Again.

One of the easiest places to legally buy huge amounts of illegal fireworks of all kinds is in Nevada where they are technically illegal but sellers get around this by issuing buyers a “permit” to explode their haul at a local 22 acre fireworks explosion park. Of course nearly every one buying fireworks head immediately to West Coast cities and Hawaii to sell them on the street at big markups.

Containers come into Honolulu all the time without any inspections, other than State Agriculture, and are trucked around Oahu or held in Kalaeloa Barbers Point industrial yards where all the illegal explosives are prepositioned for local distribution. This used to happen around July 4th and New Year’s Eve but illegal bombs and aerials are now a 24/7 all year round black market industry.

Everyone nationwide in all cities coast to coast have noticed the vast increase in huge neighborhood explosions morning noon and night. The fireworks are all marketed as “patriotic” but other than the smuggler-dealer markup the profits all go back to Mr. Ding and his Chinese Communist bureaucrat business partners.

Fireworks are responsible for setting off major fires in the western US, house fires in Hawaii and were the ignition source for the huge Beirut blast in 2020.

Ding’s China Fireworks Mafia

The Worldwide Fireworks Boss – 2018 Washington Post Investigation

Roughly 70 percent of all Chinese fireworks entering the United States come here under the control of a Chinese businessman who has used his influence to raise prices and block competitors, leaving many U.S. executives fearful of losing access to their most important Fourth of July inventories.

Ding Yan Zhong — known to industry insiders as “Mr. Ding” — has managed the flow of fireworks for a decade through the two companies he founded, Shanghai Huayang and Firstrans International.

He has broadened his empire by consolidating power in China, expanding his reach into California and becoming the most important player in fireworks logistics on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. And Hawaii.

Special permissions required to see Ding’s manufacturing sites

Ding has US Fireworks Groups Afraid Their Bombs and Explosions will Be Cut Off

Chinese fireworks entering the United States come here under the control of Chinese businessman Ding, who has used his massive controlling influence to raise firework prices and block nearly all competitors, leaving many U.S. executives fearful of losing access to their most important Fourth of July inventories if they say or oppose him.

Now, The Washington Post investigation found, Ding’s control of the fireworks delivery chain is nearly complete, according to two dozen shipping and fireworks executives, more than 40,000 fireworks shipping records, numerous court documents and other sources.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/business/the-largest-supplier-of-american-fireworks-is-from-china/

The Washington Post attempted to get an interview with Ding, but Instead, Ding’s vice general manager — Danny Zhou — said the interview had been canceled after concerns raised by a “relevant authority” he would not identify.

He provided little information besides saying that Ding was from Shanghai and was born in 1969. Little else is known about Ding outside of his role in the fireworks industry, and his business partners declined to provide a photograph of him or point to one.

Ding’s facilities use individual bunkers for the most dangerous prep work

Most of the fireworks go LEGALLY through major West Coast ports, such as Los Angeles and Long Beach and then use ILLEGAL redistribution through Nevada. Often the same Black Market groups that smuggle hard drugs and unlicensed weapons into major US cities, including Honolulu and Neighbor Islands.

Ding’s nearly total control has allowed him to bump up prices sharply. Ding charged between $8,000 and $15,000 to ship a container of the consumer fireworks sold at roadside tents and nearly $20,000 for the larger fireworks used at professional shows in July, according to officials at U.S. and Chinese companies who have relied on him for access.

The dynamic is well-known within the industry, but executives at some U.S. firms supplied by Ding’s companies say they are extremely wary of speaking out against Ding. Multiple fireworks executives in the United States and China refer to Ding and Huayang interchangeably, saying their interactions with the company largely revolved around his decision-making. A number of executives interviewed for this story refused to speak on the record, worried they would lose access to fireworks.

Ding, through one of his most senior advisers, Hu Yulu, agreed to meet with Washington Post reporters for an interview in Shanghai. But he never appeared.

Chinese Communist Party Controls The US Fireworks Market, Period.

America “patriots” send huge amounts of money to China for the thrill of loud explosions and flashes of bright light. An opportunity to blow off fingers or get permanently blinded. However Trump completely left Mr. Ding and the CCP fireworks profiteers alone without any tariffs because they serve America’s “patriotic needs.”

American fireworks importers are totally afraid of Mr. Ding.

“Everything going through Shanghai goes through Mr. Ding and Huayang,” said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group for fireworks companies. “We have no choice. You want to get your products, that’s what you do. . . . The industry is at the mercy of that, and nobody wants to rock the boat.”

From the southeastern Chinese city of Liuyang, where the majority of U.S.-bound fireworks are made, producers often load their products onto Huayang trucks. After they are stored in a Huayang warehouse, Huayang runs access to the barges they float down on the Yangtze River toward Shanghai. Once there, Huayang arranges for their shipment across the Pacific to the West Coast ports.

Ding makes massive profits from America, Making China Great Again.

In the United States, Ding’s containers arrive stuffed with 30,000 pounds of pyrotechnics, most frequently received by Firstrans, which was founded by Ding seven years ago, completing an 11,000-mile journey connected to Ding every step of the way.

An upstart shipping company run by Danish executives tried to enter the global fireworks business but rapidly backed out, receiving threats from Communist Party officials in control the Shanghai port. In a federal bankruptcy filing, U.S.-based Globe Express said it was told by Shanghai officials that it could forget ever shipping through Shanghai. The company also said it went beyond business maneuvers to something more sinister.

“This disruption included threats against Globe Express’s staff, the active blocking of transport and unloading of Globe Express’s cargo on other carriers’ container ships at Shanghai and other actions that made it impossible for Globe Express to conduct the majority of its business in China,” the company said in a court filing.

For Independence Day Fireworks, U.S. Depends On China

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/03/625405653/for-independence-day-fireworks-u-s-depends-on-china#:~:text=%22Ninety%2Dnine%20percent%20of%20the,fireworks%20are%20manufactured%20in%20China.%22

Americans will spend more than $900 million this year on bottle rockets, Roman candles, and other fireworks. But those of us who want to celebrate Independence Day with a bang are almost totally dependent on China for supplies.

American distributors of China Fireworks lobby against any US tariffs

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-chinese-tariff-fight-could-snuff-out-a-key-american-summer-tradition-2019-06-14

We’re concerned the heartland of America will be most affected in terms of their skies being dark on Independence Day.’ - American Pyrotechnics Association

It's virtually impossible to buy American fireworks

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2018/06/30/pokin-around-buy-american-fireworks-impossible/744187002/

"Fireworks, for the most part, are hand-made products. Very little of the production is mechanical," Rogers says. And much of the production is dangerous.

The details of Chinese production of fireworks are not pretty. The heart of the industry in China is in the Hunan province. Most of the workers are rural women.

"The bulk of China’s estimated $4 billion fireworks industry is centered in the southern Chinese province of Hunan in and around Liling, a mountainous rural county not far from the provincial capital of Changsha. China invented fireworks, and local lore has it that the Hunanese have been making them for centuries. Many of the factories in and around Liuyang and Liling claim to use formulas handed down through generations."

How Fireworks are made in China

Here in China one can find firecrackers several times more powerful than the legendary M-80 or Cherry Bomb

It wasn't until the opening of China, with Nixon's visit in 1972, that the Chinese fireworks industry would see a serious revival and a transfer of accumulated Western know-how back to China to become a fireworks powerhouse.

http://amazpix.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-fireworks-are-made.html

As Liu Zhourong, president of Changsha MeiTai Fireworks explains to me, about 60% of the region's population is involved in the fireworks industry. While I look out the window at his Mercedes-Benz, I realize that there really must be gold in pyrotechnics.

"Fireworks are the easiest way to get rich in Liuyang," boasts the general manager, surnamed Xu, at nearby Sunrise Fireworks.

Now that Liuyang has reclaimed its birthright, save for very specialized applications like stage fireworks, there is virtually no firework manufacturing left in the United States.

One of the key safety methods employed is to have flammable chemicals stored and mixed in small bunker-like buildings built into hillsides that only house one worker at a time.

"It is not so much that they're not interested in worker safety, as much as it is tradition and resistance to change; keeping costs down and production up," says Weeth.

Death factories making fireworks with children's toil

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-today-investigation-diwali-firecrackers-children-work-illegal-factories-347409-2016-10-19

Most of their workforce was found to be of children, adolescents and women. Fireworks makers seemed least bothered about licensing conditions.

How Military Training Device Became a Popular Illegal

Firework in LA

The military decommissioned it in the 1980s because it was too dangerous. Lit by a match, they caused too many serious injuries to soldiers’ hands. A military M-80, “You’re looking at above 150-decibel range level. I think 140 decibels is permanent hearing damage,”

The M-80 type devices are not considered fireworks; are classified as illegal explosive devices and are banned in all 50 states, YET, they are widely available on the street in Hawaii and California, as well as far more powerful China made explosives that could kill many people and destroy homes and stores.

https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/public-safety/2020/06/11/m-80-firework-started-as-military-device

Never mind that SoCal fireworks businesses have been closed due to COVID-19, or that California is a so-called "safe and sane" state that hasn’t allowed these things for decades. Angelinos are still getting their hands on them and firing them off at the least opportune times, terrorizing parents as they attempt to settle their children and dogs who cower and run.

But how did this even start?

The ever popular M-80 and larger bombs

The specific salute known as an M-80 Explosion Detonation Simulator was first referenced in a 1956 military technical manual “for simulations of booby traps, grenades and other explosions in training.” It was used to prep troops for the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Salutes are still used in military training today to simulate IEDs, air burst artillery, hand grenades, booby traps, tank gun fire, and other instruments of war, but not the M-80. The military decommissioned it in the 1980s because it was too dangerous. Lit by a match, they caused too many serious injuries to soldiers’ hands. But today, the name lives on as shorthand for any obnoxiously loud firework, having been co-opted by fireworks manufacturers capitalizing on its legendary status.

A military M-80, “You’re looking at above 150-decibel range level. I think 140 decibels is permanent hearing damage,” Wejsa said. “If this thing goes off and you're not ready for it, you might have to change your shorts.”

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned actual M-80s in 1966 because they were too dangerous for use by the public. And it continues to ban “fireworks devices that are intended to produce audible effects if the audible effect is produced by a charge of more than 130 milligrams of pyrotechnic composition.”

To determine “intent to produce an audible effect,” the CPSC does field tests, listening to the types of sounds fireworks make, rather than a specific sound level, to determine their compliance. A lot of them do not comply. Field tests of 2,548 fireworks between 2005 and 2014 found that 20% used more pyrotechnics than the CPSC audible effect limit.

M-80 type devices are not considered fireworks; they are classified as illegal explosive devices and are banned in all 50 states. Their construction remains unregulated, and they contain far higher amounts of explosive powders than what is legally allowed in a consumer firework.

When it comes to consumer fireworks that are not considered safe and sane in California, "A very high percentage comes from Nevada because that's the closest source for somebody to travel out of state and illegally smuggle them into California," he said.

Other sources include illegal consumer fireworks commercially made to look like M-80 type devices, homemade M-80s sourced with products easily found online, as well as illegal consumer fireworks and M-80 type devices smuggled and sold to fund organized crime elements, Gougé said.

Gangs are both making M-80 type devices and selling illegally smuggled fireworks that, in California, can be sold with a 200 to 300% markup.

Bringing illegal fireworks to Las Vegas could come with consequences

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k66XAaFVAhg

Buyers are given a fireworks “permit” and told they can fire them off legally at a 22 acre former fairgrounds site, but the vast majority of fireworks buyers pack them into cars, vans, trucks, U-Hauls and head to cities where all the fireworks are illegal, including Hawaii.

Buy Illegal Fireworks Legally in Pahrump, Nevada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqplwcF-DmU

Illegal fireworks part of illegal drugs and firearms smuggling

Authorities with a search warrant Tuesday found methamphetamine in the home of a man arrested with four others on suspicion of felony possession of 4,000 pounds of Nevada-purchased fireworks. Revell says that illegal fireworks come into the United States primarily through four Western ports— Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

“There are warehouses filled with fireworks that exist solely because

it is close to the California border,”

The state-approved fireworks industry and the U.S. Department of Transportation have long argued with the state that there are operations picking up product that is illegal in California (such as fireworks) to seemingly be transported to a state where that product is legal.

"Instead, these products are drop-shipped to locations here in California," Revell said. "In recent years, there have been major seizures of illegal fireworks, particularly in Southern California warehouses, that have ranged from 15 to 25 tons each which were drop-shipments from one of the two Southern California ports."

This is nothing new either, but rather the culmination of years of somewhat lax enforcement.

Public can easily obtain any size of explosives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwi-QiHQtMA

"For the better part of the last two decades, there has been no border integrity or inspections for illegal fireworks like there used to be," Revell said. "As a result, there are both hordes of individual criminal entrepreneurs as well large commercial operations smuggling these dangerous illegal fireworks into this state without fear of being caught or suffering any criminal consequences."

According to Revell, one such operation "openly brags" about its success, claiming to make "somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million each year from illegal fireworks sales in Los Angeles County alone.”

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), more than twice as many fires are reported on the Fourth of July than on any other day of the year in the United States.

Nearly 90% of emergency room fireworks injuries involve "Safe and Sane" fireworks that were used incorrectly.

Hawaii Police Call For Cutting Off Supply Of Illegal Fireworks At Harbors

https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/hawaii-police-call-cutting-supply-illegal-fireworks-harbors#stream/0

It’s been 20 years since Hawaii banned aerial fireworks, yet the illegal pyrotechnics can still be seen and heard around the state, especially during New Year’s Eve and even on Lunar New Year, which is being celebrated this year on Saturday.

Nine years ago, a state task force on illegal fireworks recommended ways to stop the import and use of prohibited pyrotechnics. However, a new report from the Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau revealed that many of the recommendations from the task force have not been adopted.

The lack of strong policies has affected county police who say enforcement of existing laws alone is not enough to curb use of illegal fireworks -- and sometimes it's not worth the effort they say.

According to the reference bureau report, Hawaii County has not prosecuted any illegal fireworks cases since 2005. Hawaii County Police Patrol Captain Kenneth Quiocho explained that, because many aspects of the laws are difficult to prove, fireworks cases don’t get prosecuted.

“For a fireworks violation, it just seems like the resources could be better spent if we stopped the supply from coming in and then used enforcement as a way to supplement attempts to try to stop the activity from taking place,” Quiocho said.

Other counties in the state have not had much more success either in stopping violations. Both Kauai and Maui have prosecuted fewer than 10 cases each over the last five years.

Kauai Assistant Police Chief Bryson Ponce said it feels as though all of the pressure to stop illegal fireworks activity falls solely on law enforcement.

“Law enforcement is the only one that's being really tasked to observe it, enforce it, issue the citations, testify to it, write the report,” he said. “You need the whole department to be able to sit in a residential area just to be able to catch a small amount of people doing it. It's a big task to do with limited amount of manpower.”

The Honolulu Police Department did not provide the total number of cases that have been prosecuted, according to the LRB report, but noted the department is currently investigating three fireworks-related incidents.

A new state law went into effect in July holds property owners liable for illegal aerials set off on their property. It allows photographs and video to be used to establish probable cause, but Maui, Kauai and Hawaii county police did not think that it would help law enforcement efforts.

“The current law only deals with the symptoms of the issue,” said John Sang, a spokesman with the Maui Police Department. “It is unreasonable to expect county law enforcement agencies to be effective with this reality. [The new law] only pits ‘neighbor against neighbor.’ In a culture where everyone desires to get along with their neighbors, only people with bad blood will report their neighbors.”

Kauai, Maui and Hawaii police agreed that if the volume of illegal fireworks decreased, law enforcement would be more effective at catching violators since they could concentrate on fewer cases.

Honolulu Police Department declined to comment for this story.

The LRB report and a 2011 report produced by the task force suggested legislation to allow more cargo inspections of ocean shipments could curb illegal fireworks. But the departments that would be charged with the inspections have resisted the idea.

During the 2019 legislative session, Kaneohe Rep. Scott Matayoshi introduced a resolution that would have called on several government entities to inspect shipping containers originating from outside the state.

“My main concern is that illegal fireworks are the literal tip of the iceberg. They were the visible portion of all of the illegal goods coming in,” Matayoshi said. “I had noticed, and other people had noticed, an uptick in illegal fireworks, which I took to mean that the iceberg was getting bigger and bigger -- not just with fireworks, but with drugs, with everything else being smuggled into our islands."

"To me, the harbors were a natural choke point.”

The only state agency that currently inspects domestic cargo shipments is the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, but it only checks for invasive species and other organic materials. The department explained that it is not equipped to handle explosives such as illegal fireworks.

Other agencies -- the state Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety -- named in Matayoshi’s bill said it would not be feasible to conduct inspections since thousands of shipping containers come into Hawaii. The 2011 task force report estimated about 200,000 containers enter the state each year.

Matayoshi said after holding several meetings and onsite visits at the harbors, he doesn’t disagree with the agencies’ arguments for being unable to do more inspections. However, he thinks the problem still needs to be addressed.

He plans to introduce a new measure that would check legal fireworks at its point of delivery because he’s heard that the illegal ones are smuggled in with legal fireworks.

He noted that his new proposal would not address his concern about drugs and other items that may be smuggled into state.

“We have the opportunity to scan just about every good coming in, if we could do it without significantly impacting the shipping containers and the goods coming into Hawaii to consumers,” he said. “If there is anyone out there who knows of technology that might be available that would serve the purpose of helping to better scan the shipping containers coming into Hawaii, then I’m all ears.”

NEVER IMPLIMENTED: Plan would use dogs to detect illegal Hawaii fireworks

Experts said they suspect most illegal fireworks reach

the islands through domestic containers.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2011/01/13/hawaii-news/plan-would-use-dogs-to-detect-illegal-fireworks/

A state task force formed to address the importation of illegal fireworks has recommended a cargo inspection program using explosives-sniffing dogs.

Maritime shippers conduct random checks on less than 5 percent of incoming domestic containers, and do not look for explosives, Espero said. Instead, they check to ensure only that the sender is being charged properly.

"Of the 200,000 containers that are coming in from our domestic ports today, 0 percent are inspected for explosives," Espero said. "The big gaping hole is the domestic containers."

Espero is looking at Homeland Security grants for the program and is also working on legislation to give the state Department of Transportation and the state Department of Defense the authority to conduct cargo inspections.

Police Departments Are Using Gunshot-Tracking Technology To Pinpoint Fireworks

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinehaskins1/police-surveillance-shotspotter-fireworks

In more than 100 cities around the United States, audio detectors sitting on streetlamps and on the tops of buildings are listening for gunshots. The company selling these devices, ShotSpotter, claims it is the “first step to all of the subsequent gun crime reduction strategies,” according to its pitch documents.

But ShotSpotter audio detectors are also capturing and logging the sounds of fireworks. The data is kept as long as the city has a relationship with ShotSpotter. In cities like Richmond, California, the police are using ShotSpotter to go after people selling and setting off illegal fireworks.

5 Solutions to Help Officers Keep Their Distance

https://www.vikendetection.com/news/officercom-product-news-5-solutions-help-officers-keep-their-distance

The Osprey-UVX under vehicle x-ray inspection system from Viken Detection, in conjunction with Viken’s handheld imagers, provides law enforcement with a comprehensive, practical, affordable and safe non-intrusive inspection (NII) solution for high-throughput vehicle scanning at border, critical infrastructure and other security and military checkpoints.

The Osprey-UVX is a fixed “in-the-ground” system that provides real-time undercarriage and lower vehicle imaging for security officers. Passengers can safely stay in the vehicle while under vehicle images are created using Viken’s X-ray imaging technology. Both a passenger and commercial versions are available, and mobile configurations are in the works.

Honolulu man charged with fireworks smuggling in ICE, ATF probe. However he was found not guilty in a federal trial.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2012/09/05/breaking-news/man-acquitted-of-importing-fireworks-linked-to-waikele-blast/

A federal court jury of seven women and five men found Gifford Koon Fo Chang, 45, not guilty of charges of smuggling, importing explosive materials without a license, and attempting to import explosives by falsifying statements.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/honolulu-man-charged-fireworks-smuggling-ice-atf-probe

HONOLULU - Federal agents executed two search warrants here Friday morning and arrested a local man in connection with an ongoing fireworks smuggling investigation tied to a deadly explosion in a storage bunker earlier this month in Waikele Gulch.

Gifford Chang, 44, of Honolulu, was taken into custody by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Chang is charged in a federal criminal complaint filed Friday with smuggling goods into the United States; making false statements to illegally bring goods into the country; and importing explosive material without a license, all occurring in Dec. 2009.

Florence T. Nakakuni, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to the affidavit filed with the complaint, Chang was the registered agent for Tiger Corporation, the listed importer of four groups of cartons in a shipping container which were determined to contain 1.3G type "commercial fireworks." Chang and Tiger Corporation were licensed to import "consumer grade" fireworks (1.4G type), but neither had the requisite license to import 1.3G type fireworks.

The affidavit further related that as part of the investigation HSI seized these fireworks, which were, except for some samples, destroyed in an explosion at a Waikele Gulch storage bunker April 8.

Chang's arrest is the latest development in an ongoing joint investigation by ICE HSI and ATF into the illegal importation of fireworks into Hawaii. The investigation began in Dec. 2009 after officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered the fireworks in a shipping container arriving in Honolulu from Shanghai, China.

"This month's deadly explosion was a tragic reminder about the profound dangers of illegally imported fireworks," said Wayne Wills, special agent in charge for ICE HSI in Honolulu. "Unfortunately, we're seeing a growing volume of illegal fireworks being smuggled into Hawaii. Given the public safety risks, targeting those involved in these activities is a top priority for HSI and its law enforcement partners."

The huge explosion in Beirut in 2020 was detonated with nearby stored fireworks

Hearing more pre-Fourth fireworks than usual? You’re not imagining it

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-23/fourth-of-july-illegal-fireworks-steve-lopez

Eastsider LA reported massive increases in complaints about fireworks this year. But it’s not just that part of town that’s affected, nor is it just Los Angeles.

New York City got 80 times the number of illegal fireworks complaints in the first half of June as it received for the same period a year ago.

It could be that in California, where anything but low-grade safe and sane fireworks are illegal, people with jobs on hold have time to drive to other states or Mexico and smuggle back explosives. Or they may be purchasing materials online and constructing their own incendiary devices.

In California, busts have been made up and down the state, with Irwindale police confiscating 2,000 pounds of illegal fireworks last week. But this is definitely a game of whack-a-mole, and the moles are winning.

“It’s so loud, it really does sound like bombs,” said Vovas. “It’s relentless. Yesterday was Sunday, and they were starting to go off at 5:30 or 6 p.m.”

MORE BOMB AND EXPLOSION NEWS

Former Naval Ammunition Depot Waikele – The Place Where All The Nukes Were Stored and Hawaii Most Deadly Fireworks Explosion

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/naval-ammunition-depot-waikele.html

Fireworks factory explosion caught on camera in Colombia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuN4xirvhHY

Raw video of Mexico fireworks explosion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX2AGo8-1KI

Caught On Camera: Explosions Rock Fireworks Factory In Northwest Turkey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmgELXp64PM

Six injured in fireworks factory blast in southwest China

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iP5iRV_Fa4

Biggest Firework explosion ever! Top7 horrible fireworks Accidents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL0E6M48cp0

What A Nuclear Missile Attack On Hawaii Would Look Like

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-nuclear-missile-attack-on-hawaii.html

Army to Spend Over $1 Billion on New Missiles, Marines In Hawaii Prepare For High Tech Missile War

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/pearl-harbor-blast-zone-us-army-to.html

Major Expansion of Pearl Harbor West Loch Ammunition Depot

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/pearl-harbor-blast-zone-major-expansion.html

2020-11-09T13:36:00.002-08:00

JOHN M. BOND KANEHILI HUI REPORT AND TESTIMONY

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Dry Dock Replacement And Waterfront Production Facility. Major Expansion of West Loch Depot Endangers Pearl Harbor-Hickam

Significant High Explosives Munitions Storage Expansion And Development Of Military Ocean Terminal For Pearl Harbor Threatens Dock Expansion, Workers, Ford Island & Hickam

John M. Bond

10/19/2020

Reference Documents: U.S. Navy Magazines for Long Ordnance, JBPHH West Loch Annex and U.S. Army West Loch Ordnance Facilities Draft Environmental Assessment Reveal Major Ordinance Magazine Expansion, Plans For Military Ocean Port For Large Ammunition Ships

Kanehili Cultural Hui P.O. Box 75578 Kapolei, Hi 96707

PUBLIC TESTIMONY RE: Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

October 19, 2020

Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific

PHNSY DD/WPF EIS Project Manager

Attention: Andréa M. Von Burg Hall andrea.vonburg-hall@navy.mil

258 Makalapa Drive, Suite 100

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI 96860-3134

Aloha,

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a document prepared to describe the effects for proposed activities on the environment including land, water, air, structures, living organisms, environmental values at the site, and the social, cultural, and economic aspects.

The Navy is considering (1) a covered or uncovered dry dock, (2) a waterfront production facility located either east or west of the Dry Dock replacement, and (3) the potential for the waterfront production facility to service one or more dry docks.

PH Dock EIS

https://pearlharbordrydockeisopenhouse.org/

WHAT ARE CUMULATIVE IMPACTS?

Cumulative impacts result when the effects of an action are added to or interact with other effects in a particular place and within a particular time. It is the combination of these effects, and any resulting environmental degradation, that should be the focus of cumulative impact analysis. The concept of cumulative impacts takes into account all disturbances since cumulative impacts result in the compounding of the effects of all actions over time. The cumulative impacts of an action can be viewed as the total effects on a resource, ecosystem, or human community of that action and all other activities affecting that resource no matter what entity (federal, non-federal, or private) is taking the actions.

Conclusion:

There are serious and documentable current and future dangers to the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Maintenance Facility and nearby West Oahu communities, including Hickam Field and Ford Island.

A possible blast from West Loch, from an ammunition ship, RimPac ships or loading weapons into new Virginia Class VPM sections of attack submarines could do great damage to Pearl Harbor facilities and Hickam Field

New PH Navy sub dock facilities are in VBD Blast Zone. This is from DoD - Army explosive safety arc ESQD criteria

According to MOTSU blast zone criteria applied to West Loch, the new Navy submarine drydock facilities would be in the VBD - Vulnerable Building Distance. Windows could be shattered and pieces of hot metal fall into the dockyards or onto a submarine, possibly setting off secondary explosions and fires.

Using a UN IATG (International Ammunition Technical Guidelines )Quantity Distance Map, a professional explosive blast arc software program and explosive amounts in Hazard Division 1.1 and using safety arcs determined from DoD and the US Army’s own EQSD data released to the public for the first time ever in 2018 by MOTSU, the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point in North Carolina, possible munitions blast radii affecting West Oahu can be determined:

Above is the arc of a 1,000,000 kg blast at Whisky Wharf 1-2-3

Using an example from MOTSU, a 1,000,000 kg blast zone radius for Vulnerable Building Distance (VBD) would be 4440 meters or 2.76 miles. This means Waipahu, Ewa west of Kualaka’i Parkway (AKA North South Road) Ewa Beach- Ocean Pointe (Haseko) Ewa Gentry – Ewa Villages, and over to Iroquois Point.

The Inhabited Building Distance (IBD) is 2220M or 1.4 miles. This is very interesting as it is exactly the same distance as shown in the historic Building 1 map of “Whisky” wharf W 1-2-3, which shows an ESQD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance) arrow pointing southwest of 7405 feet (1.4 miles.) This strongly suggests that the original West Loch explosive blast arc was based upon the same Hazard Division 1.1 Explosives input of 1,000,000 kg (2,204622.62 pounds, 1102.3 tons) of TNT munitions.

2020 Beirut explosion 1.1 kilotons of TNT = 1 kiloton to KG = 1000000 kg

1 Kilotonne or metric kiloton (unit of mass) is equal to 1000 metric tons. A metric ton is exactly 1000 kilograms (SI base unit) making a kilotonne equal to 1000000 kilograms. 1 kt = 1000000 kg.

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

Above is the arc of a 1,000,000 kg blast in the Pearl Harbor entrance channel

West Loch Capacity (according to Navy documents) - The capacity to store 34,000 short tons of explosive ordinance or over ½ millions square feet of explosives.

34000 tons = 30844.281 metric tons, 30844.281 metric tons = 30844281 kg

Above is the arc of a 30844281 kg blast at West Loch

DoD Army Terminal Blast Zones ESQD Made Public In 2018

https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2018/07/31/motsu-addresses-blast-zones-future-development-during-public-meetings/

Information recently revealed to the public shows two concentric “explosive safety areas,” including developed and undeveloped areas.

One, which covers essentially the same area as the federal buffer zones around MOTSU, is the inhabited building distance (IBD). The IBD is the minimum distance maintained between an explosive site and a building not used for munition handling purposes.

A second, larger blast zone, called the K88 quantity-distance arc, is new to the public. This area is considerably larger than federally maintained buffer zones, and includes developed areas like Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and parts of Brunswick County.

At about twice the radius of the IBD, the K88 quantity-distance arc includes areas with a high probability of glass breakage during an explosion. In the event of a disaster, both zones pose a threat to human safety.

“Typically we don’t show the K88,” Mueller said in an interview following the second public meeting. “It was newly released to the public.”

According to Mueller, the terminal is only required to reveal the IBD zone to the public.

Pearl Harbor Dry Dock Conceptual Designs

The Covered PH Dock shown in the EIS raises questions about the similarity to SSBN weapons loading hangars built for vertical missile loading. Does this mean the new Navy attack boats will carry nukes?

Kings Bay SSBN facility with special weapons loading hangars

Bangor SSBN facility with special weapons loading hangars

The Two Big Navy Facilities Where SSBN Missile Boats Are Serviced Including Special Weapons Loaded, Stored

Naval Submarine Base Bangor – Where The SSBN’s Are

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/naval-submarine-base-bangor-where-ssbns.html

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay – Where The SSBN’s Are

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/naval-submarine-base-kings-bay-where.html

New Virginia Class Attack Subs Have More Missile Capacity

New Navy Sub Configurations All Point To Likely Nuclear Weapons Being Stored And Loaded In Pearl Harbor

According to Adm. Cecil Haney, (7 August 2013) the former commander of Pacific Fleet subs, on any given day 17 boats are underway and eight are “forward-deployed,” meaning they are on station in a potential combat zone. To the Pacific Fleet, that pretty much means waters near China.

Attack boats- do not carry nukes - currently. The technology of missiles is rapidly changing and it would be entirely possible that new attack subs will carry nuclear cruise missiles every bit as effective as missile boats which have ballistic missiles that fly in an arc to their target. The SSBN missile subs are the final guarantee of MAD – Mutual Assured Destruction. But what if China found a way to locate all US Navy SSBN’s?

One of the reasons Bangor, WA is so popular for nuke missiles is that SSBN subs can depart and slip into very deep water very quickly after loading. Pearl Harbor also offers deep water just outside the harbor. Kings Bay requires a sub to travel 100 miles before it can enter deep water- but that is not the reason why Kings Bay was originally built.

New Subs New Missions - SUBPAC COMMANDS - Attack Submarines

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/new-subs-new-missions-subpac-commands.html

Navy Sub Identification - Composition of the current force

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/navy-sub-identification-composition-of.html

Time To Look At RimPac As A Threat To Pearl Harbor?

RimPac Needs To Be Reconsidered

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/rimpac-needs-to-be-reconsidered.html

The 1969 USS Enterprise fire off Pearl Harbor

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-1969-uss-enterprise-fire-off-pearl.html

Here is what an 89657068 kg Explosive Arc Looks Like If West Loch Blew Up. An Ideal Enemy Terrorist Target

West Loch has storage capacity of approximately

98,830 short tons (89657068 kg)

(NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor, 2017)

Material is on/off-loaded onto a variety of ships at various locations on and around Pearl Harbor. The West Loch wharves, Pearl Harbor piers, and Ford Island are common locations for on- and off-loading material. Types of ships include various combatant ships, small boats and submarines; Navy cargo and supply ships (T-AKE and T-AOE); chartered vessels; and U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps roll-on/roll-off (RORO) vessels.

West Loch Ammunition Depot Today - NMCPAC EAD DET PH

https://dair.nps.edu/bitstream/123456789/2273/1/NPS-LM-18-023.pdf

Navy Munitions Command Pacific East Asia Division Detachment Pearl Harbor (NMCPAC EAD DET PH) headquartered in Ewa Beach, HI, on the island of Oahu, NMCPAC EAD DET PH consists of two branches:

the Lualualei Branch on the western side of Oahu 35 miles northwest of Honolulu, and the West Loch Branch (West Loch and Waipio Point) located about 20 miles west of Honolulu. Combined, these facilities contain 386 magazines—large, earth covered storage facilities—with a storage capacity of approximately 98,830 short tons (NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor, 2017).

Navy Munitions Command

NMC maintains a Pre-positioned War Reserve Stock (PWRS) of underwater mines, torpedo's and provide ordnance sentencing, inspection and handling in support of aviation ordnance operations. Maintains all ordnance in designated readiness and assembly configurations, through a program of periodic maintenance and provides assembly and final preparation services in support of Pacific Fleet operations. The Command safely and effectively receives stores, segregates, and issues ammunition stock for the military and other government entities. NMCPAC EAD DET PH also provides pier-side ordnance handling in the Pearl Harbor area for military and commercial vessels of all types, foreign and domestic, as well as services to other military commands at their respective sites.

Other Major Ammunition Facilities Have Much Greater Safety Distances Than Does West Loch

Indian Island Washington State – A Largely Wide Safety Area – Not Like West Loch

Earle Ammunition Loading Facility – Large Wide Safety Area – Not Like West Loch

MOTSU - Has A Large Wide Safety Area – Not Like West Loch

Mainland Weapons Storage Facilities Have Much Greater Explosive Safety Arc Space Than Oahu At West Loch

Naval Weapons Station Earle

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/naval-weapons-station-earle.html

Indian Island – The West Coast's major Navy ammunition site

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/indian-island-west-coasts-major-navy.html

The 1969 USS Enterprise Fire Off Pearl Harbor And Other Major Navy Accidents And Explosions

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-1969-uss-enterprise-fire-off-pearl.html

Both USS BHR And USS Miami Destroyed By Insider Arsonists

These Intentional Disasters Cost Well Over 1 Billion In Loses

The Pentagon is preparing for a missile war and Oahu has been chosen to store hundreds of new missiles, some as close as less than ½ mile from homes, schools, hospitals, parks.

The place on Oahu they want to store them for Indo-Pacific theatre of operations is in West Loch, PH. The danger to the Ewa and West Oahu community is enormous and cannot be understated. Past US wars have shown that once war plan decisions are made there will be a requirement for ever increasing weapons and munitions storage.

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.

The Reason Why The Army And Navy Made An Insane Plan To Cram Hundreds Of Missiles And Bombs Next To Ewa Homes And Schools Is Due To Thinking The Cold War Was Over

The plan to place ALL MUNITIONS in West Loch was created in the early 1990’s and no consideration was given to expanding the ESQD like was done everywhere else in the US at ammunition storage depots

Why Is Army And Navy Moving All Their Bombs And Missiles To Ewa Beach?

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/why-is-army-and-navy-moving-all-their.html

Ewa Gentry North Park Development Half A Mile From Major New Army Missile Magazine Munitions Storage Complex

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/pearl-harbor-blast-zone-ewa-gentry-new.html

The Ewa Beach Community Back In The 1970’s-80’s. No worries about new massive backyard missile and weapon China War stockpiles.

West Loch Estates, Ewa Gentry, Ewa Beach, Iroquois Point Have High Explosives And Missiles Stored In Their Back Yards, Much Closer Than US Mainland Ammunition Facilities

Above, West Loch Estates and West Loch Fairway will be very close to major new Army and Navy weapons stockpiles for China War

Isn’t It Time To Seriously Prepare Hawaii For A Chinese Missile Attack?

Hawaii Bungled The Feared Kim Missile Attack When The Major Threat Really Is A Huge China Missile Attack, Oahu A Prime Target For Hypersonic Missiles, EMP, Biological, Cyber Shut Down Of Entire Power Grid, etc.

What A Nuclear Missile Attack On Hawaii Would Look Like

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-nuclear-missile-attack-on-hawaii.html

Shouldn’t Hawaii Citizens Be Prepared For War With China?

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/shouldnt-hawaii-citizens-be-prepared.html

Army to Spend Over $1 Billion on New Missiles, Marines In Hawaii Prepare For High Tech Missile War

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/pearl-harbor-blast-zone-us-army-to.html

Major Expansion of Pearl Harbor West Loch Ammunition Depot

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/pearl-harbor-blast-zone-major-expansion.html

With all of these munitions, missiles, etc, coming in to be stored and transported to forward Pacific areas the Army and Navy 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.

Oahu doesn’t have any emergency evacuation plan like other US mainland facilities have!

Sincerely,

John Bond, President

Kanehili Hui

P.O. Box 75578

Kapolei, Hi. 96707

Hawaii Was Part Of The Secret Manhattan Project And Atomic Bomb Tests And Development. 60-75 Year Old Nuclear Bomb Development And Storage Histories Finally Declassified.

NAS Barbers Point support of atomic bomb development – some aspects still classified

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/phase-one-of-nas-barbers-point-support.html

Operation Crossroads was supported by NAS Barbers Point in 1946

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/operation-crossroads-was-supported-by.html

NAS Barbers Point B-52 Loads, Takes Off and Drops Mk 36 Atomic Bomb

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/nas-barbers-point-b-52-loads-takes-off.html

1962 NAS Barbers Point Operation Dominic B-52 Atomic Bomb Drop Tests

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/1962-nas-barbers-point-operation.html

NAS Barbers Point Site 95, Building 278 Special Weapons Complex For Atomic Energy Commission and Navy

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/nas-barbers-point-site-95-building-278.html

Nuclear Tests and Weapons History in the Pacific and near Hawaii. NAS Barbers Point was a major support base.

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/nuclear-tests-and-weapons-history-in.html

Oahu Has A Huge History Of Storing Vast Amounts Of All Kinds Of Weapons – High Explosives, Chemical and Nuclear, Etc.

West Loch NAD History

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/west-loch-nad-history.htm

Kipapa Ammunition Storage Site (KASS) History

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/kipapa-ammunition-storage-site-kass.html

Lualualei Naval Ammunition Depot History

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/lualualei-naval-ammunition-depot-history.html

Waikakalaua Ammo Storage Sites (WASS) History

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/waikakalaua-ammo-storage-sites-wass.html

Naval Ammunition Depot Waikele

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/naval-ammunition-depot-waikele.html

West Loch ESQD (safety arc blast zone) Revealed from a Recently Published 2017 Public Document

2020-09-21T20:08:00.008-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

West Loch ESQD (safety arc blast zone) Revealed from a Recently Published 2017 Public Document

The West Loch Blast Zone Arc is just 1.4 miles, much smaller than Army MOTSU, NC

For the first time the West Loch Blast Zone ESQD has been found. The Navy in Hawaii has never released this map before. All maps shown and documents used here are from US government publications, project analysis and environmental assessments, and are NOT secret or disclosing anything to China and Russia which actually know a lot more about all this than does the local West Oahu community. The communities near these munitions sites deserve to know this information because all this could have a large impact on home construction, building codes, schools, insurance, evacuations, emergency response and much, much more. This was extensively revealed in the 2018 MOTSU disclosures to the communities near it in North Carolina.

The MOTSU Blast Zone Arc is approximately 3.5 miles or MORE

The Navy in Hawaii disclosed the West Loch ESQD in 2003 in an unpublished report. The Navy very often keeps important community information in unpublished reports documents. Sometimes these documents can be found using a FOIA process (Freedom of Information Act.) However the West Loch blast zone safety arc of 2003 was revealed and can be found in this university thesis: Cost of Compliance on Graduate School of Business & Public Policy Thesis, December 2017, Naval Postgraduate School, Munitions Consolidation from Lualualei to West Loch. This is a US government document and can be seen and downloaded online.

https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/58904

The thesis is a rationale for moving Army munitions to West Loch and consolidating them all with new Navy Type D storage units that will be built for missiles. In the analysis a number of significant new maps were revealed for the first time in a public document.

Annotated in red shows the existing and planned expansion of munitions and missile magazines in West Loch. The Army and Navy plans also show another ALT site which could later become a phase II missile magazine site. The Navy's missile magazines will go in right next to the "N" Special Weapons storage area. Below the N weapons area is the Navy Mk-46-Mk-48 Torpedo Shop and storage area. The West Loch channel has been dredged and expanded to bring in large T-AKE Navy ammunition ships.

The Box D Type magazine are typically used for "long ordinance" missiles

The Navy 2003 blast zone arc map has been annotated in red to show the public what is currently there and what is planned to go in soon. None of this is classified information and details can be found in public documents on the internet. The Navy policy concerning “special weapons-AKA nukes” is that they will neither “confirm nor deny” that nuclear weapons are stored in a specific location. The obvious indicator most used is to look for a double high security fence around the site. Waikele was once also a known site for storing nuclear weapons and had very high security and double fencing. Today it is generally known that intercontinental ballistic missiles for Navy submarines are stored and loaded in a remote area in Bangor, Washington. There isn't a "boomer" missile submarine loading facility in Pearl Harbor at this time.

Above shown is an "Alternative 2" type D missile magazine storage site (Phase II?)

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/lualualei.htm

Global Security: Naval Magazine, Lualualei May 2011 stated this about nuclear weapons: In January 2000 the designation Naval Magazine, Lualualei, Hawaii, was changed to Naval Magazine Pearl Harbor. The name change was a result of the command's recent headquarters move from the Lualualei Branch to Pearl Harbor's West Loch. Fifty W-80-0 munitions for Tomahawk SLCM's and 40 nuclear aerial bombs are stored in the Lualualei Naval Magazine (NAVMAG) at West Loch on Oahu, Hawaii.

Supposedly according to treaties with Russia, Navy attack submarines do not carry nuclear Tomahawks. However, all of this is now changing as all the key treaties are being cancelled to allow a wide range of new nuclear weapons of many types and sizes. The nuclear aerial bombs that possibly are now stored in West Loch are most likely the B-61 type which are generally considered outdated for use against a sophisticated air defense system like Russia or China. The big weapons trend is going to “stand off” missiles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bomb

The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear gravity bomb in the United States Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War. It is a low to intermediate-yield strategic and tactical nuclear weapon featuring a two-stage radiation implosion design.

The B61 is of the variable yield ("dial-a-yield" in informal military jargon) design with a yield of 0.3 to 340 kilotons in its various mods. It has a streamlined casing capable of withstanding supersonic flight speeds, is 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) long, with a diameter of about 13 inches (33 cm). Basic weight is about 700 pounds (320 kg), although the weights of individual weapons may vary depending on version and fuze/retardation configuration. As of 2020, it is undergoing a 12th modification. According to the Federation of American Scientists in 2012, the roughly 400 B61-12s will cost $28 million apiece.

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

Lualualei: Why Are Munitions Being Transferred to West Loch and Large New Missile Magazines Being Built by Army and Navy?

2020-09-21T17:54:00.005-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

Lualualei: Why Are Munitions Being Transferred to

West Loch and Large New Missile Magazines

Being Built by Army and Navy?

Lualualei Naval Magazine

This is Lualualei in leeward Oahu. This naval magazine has gradually been shut down and the last tenant is the US Army which has been keeping its munitions there. Now the army plans to remove all remaining munitions over to a new Army Munitions Complex directly next to the communities of West Loch, Ewa by Gentry, Ewa Villages and Ewa Beach.

The Army is also building many new Type D missile magazines for new missiles and long range artillery shells at West Loch. The Navy is also building new Type D missile magazines at West Loch. There are major new weapons being developed largely in anticipation of the coming war with China. China’s military is making increasingly aggressive military moves in the Pacific with Guam and Hawaii in their bomb sites. The US Military is countering this with a rapid buildup of advanced new missiles to hit ship and island targets in the Pacific.

Cost of Compliance on Graduate School of Business & Public Policy Thesis, December 2017, Naval Postgraduate School, Munitions Consolidation from Lualualei to West Loch

https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/58904

In 1967, the Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA) came out with more restrictive safety standards mandating that the distance between each magazine must be greater than what is currently installed at West Loch (NAVSEA, 2017). Due to the lack of permissible net explosive weight (NEW) allowed per the NOSSA standards, Navy Munitions Command has been using several magazines in Lualualei to store smaller-sized ordnance.

The 1995 Hawaii Military Land Use Master Plan (HMLUMP) recognized the importance of Hawaii’s strategic location as a “bridge to Asia” and, as a result, recommended the release of the Lualualei Annex due to its aging magazines and its consolidation with West Loch pending construction of new facilities.

The 2002 Commander, Navy Region Hawaii (CNRH) Ordnance Facilities Plan, proposed a significant investment in new ordnance infrastructure for new magazines near West Loch. Additionally, in 2003, PACFLT identified that only four out of 299 magazines in Hawaii are capable of storing modern missiles for naval destroyers and submarines.

The two courses of action according to the Navy’s analysis are as follows: Option 1. Navy builds new magazines, Army builds new magazines, and both consolidate in West Loch in accordance with NOSSA standards. Option 2. Current magazines at Lualualei are upgraded to NOSSA standards and current operations remain the same for Navy and Army. Option 1 may sound reasonable but does not take in account the required ESQD – safety zone, according to information made available to the public in 2018 by the Army MOTSU presentations. The Army munitions complex will be just .5 (1/2 mile) from the nearby communities.

Rising tensions in the Pacific with China, North Korea, and Russia could lead to combat operations in the Pacific. The West Loch Hawaii’s will need to store additional prepositioned munitions, hold ordnance for ships undergoing repairs, and resupply more deploying ships to the Pacific. The West Loch channel has already been expanded to handle large newer Navy ammunition ships, such as handled by the Army MOTSU site in North Carolina which has a 3.5 mile ESQD safety arc, compared to West Loch which has a very much smaller ESQD and is located right next to many suburban homes in Ewa West Oahu.

See Figure 3 below for the layout of West Loch and shows the explosive safety boundaries associated with ammunition operations. Unlike Lualualei, West Loch is closer to residential areas. Ordnance operations in both Lualualei and West Loch are contracted out and are renewed annually by the Navy.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/lualualei.htm

Global Security: Naval Magazine, Lualualei May 2011

The Naval Magazine is located in Lualualei Valley on the leeward side of Oahu, with headquarters a few miles inland from the towns of Waianae and Nanakuli. The shipping and receiving center is located at West Loch. The Naval Magazine is a terminus for the kolekole Pass road which traverses the beautiful Waianae Mountains. The drive extends from the Waianae coast to Schofield Barracks and offers panoramic views. The road is closed to the public, but open to military personnel and their dependents on most days until sunset.

In January 2000 the designation Naval Magazine, Lualualei, Hawaii, was changed to Naval Magazine Pearl Harbor. The name change was a result of the command's recent headquarters move from the Lualualei Branch to Pearl Harbor's West Loch. Fifty W-80-0 munitions for Tomahawk SLCM's and 40 nuclear aerial bombs are stored in the Lualualei Naval Magazine (NAVMAG) at West Loch on Oahu, Hawaii.

In January 2000 Naval Magazine Lualualei held its official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the new headquarters building, located in the West Loch Branch, Ewa Beach. The Commanding Officer, Capt. Shawn Morrissey, kicked off the ceremony with an introductory speech. Following his speech, Lt. Leila Havadtoy provided a blessing for the new headquarters building. After the ribbon was officially cut, all attendees gathered together for a potluck barn-warming celebration, which was held right next to the waterfront and the headquarters.

Lualualei is located on land that consists of a thin layer of alluvial and coastal sediments and reef deposits overlying consolidated limestone. Civilian land use surrounding this facility is largely rural and the site is surrounded by agricultural and small areas of Urban and Conservation Land Use districts. Naval Magazine Lualualei, which occupies 8,105 acres of the valley. The nearest urban area is the town of Maili, which lies approximately 1 mile west of the station. The towns of Waianae and Nanakuli are also located nearby. Kolekole Pass is a narrow mountain road across the Waianae Mountain Ranges that provides vehicular access to Schofield Barracks. Lualualei is approximately 27 miles from downtown Honolulu.

http://archives.starbulletin.com/98/10/05/news/story1.html

The Navy owns more than 9,000 acres in the Waianae Valley. Its radio towers are a familiar sight, but more goes on beneath the earth.

The Navy has used Lualualei as an ammunition depot (initially Naval Ammunition Depot Oʻahu, now Naval Magazine Pearl Harbor) and a communications facility (Lualualei Naval Radio Transmitting Facility) since 1934.

Kolekole Pass forms a low crossing point through the Waiʻanae Mountains. A prehistoric trail crossed Kolekole pass linking Waiʻanae Uka with Waiʻanae Kai.

Kolekole Pass Road is located on the federal lands connecting these military facilities on Waiʻanae coast of Oʻahu to Schofield Barracks Army Installation in Central Oahu. The Army's 3rd Engineers corps constructed vehicular passage in 1937.

The Magazine facility, a terminus for the Kolekole Pass road, contains 255 aboveground storage structures capable of housing 78,000 tons of ammunition and explosives. (hawaii.gov) The shipping and receiving center is located at West Loch, Pearl Harbor.

Historic documentation Of Lualualei Ammunition facility

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

Honolulu Star-Advertiser Column: Public deserves to be heard on West Loch ordnance facility

2020-09-21T04:01:00.003-07:00

Honolulu Star-Advertiser Column:

Public deserves to be heard on West Loch ordnance facility

https://malu-aina.org/?p=6915

I urge at least a one-month extension (from Sept. 8 until Oct. 8) for public comments on the draft environmental assessment (EA) for the U.S. Army West Loch Ordnance Facilities at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Given COVID-19 restrictions and the fact there have been no public hearings or meetings to discuss this matter, there needs to be more time for the community to respond to this potentially dangerous munitions proposal.

For background: I trust many are unaware that in the late 1970s the Navy was planning to build a major nuclear weapons storage and maintenance facility at West Loch, and similar to today, was NOT planning to do a full environmental impact statement (EIS). Only an EA — and of course, the Navy “would neither confirm nor deny” the presence of nuclear weapons.

The Navy was planning to close the Waikele nuclear weapons storage depot in Central Oahu’s Kipapa Gulch due to encroaching urban development. I and others did a lot of research about security requirements for nuclear weapons storage areas — specific signage, double fencing, lighting, etc. We even photographed (from public accessible areas) nuclear weapons being transported via helicopter from Waikele to West Loch — the specific containers distinctive for nuclear weapons.

A lot of this info is in the book, “The Dark Side of Paradise — Hawaii in a Nuclear World,” I co-authored and is in Hawaii libraries. Long story short: Catholic Action of Hawaii, which I coordinated, filed a federal lawsuit to require an EIS. The case was dismissed at the federal court level, but we won at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled the military could do a hypothetical EIS about the possibilities of accidents, sabotage, terrorist attacks, air crashes into the storage site, etc., to get around the “neither confirm nor deny” policy. The military appealed, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that military national security nuclear weapons secrecy trumps all. No need to do even a hypothetical EIS about the dangers of nuclear weapons being stored in Hawaii.

The result: 48 nuclear weapons storage bunkers plus nuclear weapon maintenance buildings were built at West Loch.

Have times changed or remained the same? Do people have a right to know about the dangers of military weapons stored in our backyards?

We all need to be reminded of the second Pearl Harbor event, at West Loch in May of 1944 — Hawaii’s second-greatest disaster. An accidental explosion of munitions killed and wounded more than 500 at West Loch. Today the area around West Loch has seen major civilian growth and population build-up — Pearl City, Waipahu, Ewa, Ewa Beach, Kapolei, etc.

The munitions depot at West Loch has gone through multiple expansions since WWII. The power of the munitions has also increased tremendously. Today both the Army and Navy are planning munition depot expansion there: The Army is planning 35 storage magazines and a range of support structures covering over 50 acres; the Navy is planning 24 new box magazines for storage. Both say “no significant impact.” It’s one expansion after another, each with “no significant impact.”

I thought in a democracy that ultimate power rests with the people. A government of, by and for the people. Yet if citizens are kept in the dark about matters for their own defense, who is really wielding ultimate power? Are we really being defended or endangered by these weapons of war in our backyards? Don’t we have a right to be better informed on these matters, ask questions in public hearings, and have a voice in the decision making process? Shouldn’t a comprehensive EIS be done on all the West Loch munitions and how this might impact the lives of people who live in the surrounding area?

Jim Albertini is founder of the Malu ‘Aina Center for Nonviolent Education & Action in Kurtistown (www.malu-aina.org).

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Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a (Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org

Civil Beat: Military Plan To Move Munitions To West Loch Worries Public

2020-09-21T03:48:00.004-07:00

Civil Beat: Military Plan To Move Munitions To West Loch Worries Public

The Army says the move will make munitions storage safer, but secrecy and the legacy of a wartime coverup from the past make neighbors of the project uneasy.

https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/09/military-plan-to-move-munitions-to-west-loch-worries-public/

A proposed military munitions depot at West Loch that would begin construction in 2022 has prompted complaints from community members who feel they’re being kept in the dark.

The project would see the Army move its munitions from its current storage magazines at the Navy’s Lualualei Annex near Waianae on the leeward side to West Loch Annex as part of a broader move to consolidate military logistics on the island.

The military argues that in the long term it will be safer and more convenient to move the explosives, but some residents feel that the ordnance will be too close to densely populated communities including Ewa and Waipahu.

Local concerns are colored by the fact that West Loch was the scene of an infamous accidental ordnance explosion in 1944 that killed more than 100 people but was covered up by the military for years. Several neighbors of the project feel that the military hasn’t done enough to inform the public about what it’s doing now and why.

The public comment window originally closed on Sept. 8, but the Navy extended it to Friday when many residents complained they had only just heard of it. Residents can leave feedback online, but local officials and some residents are calling for a public hearing.

“This is a big enough thing that they should hold a public meeting,” said Ewa Neighborhood Board member John Rogers. “I think it’s the courteous thing to do for the community.”

At the beginning of the month state Sen. Mike Gabbard wrote to the Navy at Rogers’ request asking for an extension of the comment deadline and for a public hearing.

Capt. James Meyer, the commanding officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Hawaii responded to Gabbard in an email, telling him that “while public hearings are not required (by the National Environmental Policy Act) in this case, comments are encouraged and this process affords for official consideration and reply to public comment.”

“He didn’t mention anything about a public hearing, which I think is totally lame,” Gabbard told Civil Beat.

One of the main contentions is questions about just what sort of munitions the military will be storing at West Loch, and in what volume. In a joint statement to Civil Beat, Army and Navy officials said that “specific ammunition types and explosive amounts are considered sensitive information, which is why they and the exact (safety) calculations are not disclosed to the public.”

“This is less than a mile from a developed community. And somehow, they just assumed I guess nobody’s going to notice this,” said John Bond, a local community member and military historian. “But this is a big deal.”

Military officials insisted that they have been aggressive in their outreach efforts. They sent the environmental assessment to the neighborhood board chairs for Waipahu, Ewa and Maili/Nanakuli for distribution to their respective boards.

In a joint statement, Army and Navy officials told Civil Beat they also put notices for the 30-day public review and comment period in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Aug. 9, 10 and 11, in the Office of Environmental Quality Control’s August Environmental Notice, and distributed copies of the environmental assessment to the Pearl City, Ewa Beach and Hawaii State libraries.

Local resident Haunani Hess said she’s bothered by the lack of a public hearing. She said that she understands the pandemic presents challenges for holding one, but argued it should be possible to do an event online.

This week the Navy announced it will deliver a digital public hearing later this month for a proposed submarine dry dock.

But Hess also noted that she doesn’t expect public input to have any actual impact on what the military does.

“They’ll take our comments and put them in the trash, like they usually do,” she said.

Move Is 25 Years In The Works

The move from Lualualei is part of a long-planned restructure based on findings of a 1995 land use study the military prepared at the request of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

“The study’s findings would require the Army to either relocate its Lualualei Annex functions or to assume management of the Annex,” the environmental assessment notes. “The Army does not wish to assume management of Lualualei Annex, and the Navy may have other future uses planned for the area.”

The Army and Navy agreed on a longterm plan to consolidate at West Loch Annex, eventually moving all ordnance from Lualualei Annex. The Navy is also planning on building 24 new box storage magazines at West Loch. On Aug. 10 the Navy awarded Honolulu construction contractor Nan Inc. $33.5 million to build them.

“The facilities at Lualualei Annex are approaching the end of their useful life and need major revitalization work in order to make them suitable for today’s weaponry,” the assessment states. The current facilities were built between 1932 and 1942 and were originally designed for a railway transport system.

The environmental assessment also presented renovating the Lualualei facilities as an alternative, but moving munitions to West Loch is the military’s strongly preferred solution.

While critics of the move argue that stockpiling munitions at West Loch poses a threat to surrounding communities, the Navy’s assessment found the move would have a beneficial impact on public safety.

The assessment argued that “residential communities would remain located outside of explosive safety zones” and “the proposed storage of ordnance at West Loch Annex would reduce the transportation of ordnance on public roadways.”

In their statement, military officials noted that the safety buffer zone is “determined by the design of the magazine and amount of explosives permitted to be stored inside.”

Rogers, a Navy veteran who served aboard submarines, said that the lack of information in the environmental assessment is very different than other military documents he’s read, even those meant for public release.

“Normally they give some methods of how they determine that,” he said of the safety calculations. “There’s very little of that here.”

Rogers also questions whether this project will actually cut down on the movement of munitions on roads as the military will still need to convoy them from West Loch to training areas around Schofield Barracks. He wants to know how the military determined it would cut down on traffic.

“They don’t justify that claim at all,” he said. “I understand that some of that is sensitive information, but you can provide just some basic statistics.”

Hess said that ultimately, she considers the military’s safety zone calculations irrelevant when it comes to public comments if the public doesn’t know what they are.

“If we don’t know what they’re storing we have to just blindly trust that it’s in compliance with this blast radius,” she said. “To me that’s inconceivable. This is a densely populated area.”

A Secret Disaster

On May 21, 1944, sailors, Marines and soldiers were all working on several vessels docked at West Loch loading munitions to support Operation Forager, the invasion of Japanese-occupied Saipan.

At 3:08 p.m. something caused an explosion aboard the troop carrier LST-353 near the bow where soldiers were handling mortar rounds. More blasts of increasing intensity followed, raining burning debris on nearby vessels. The debris ignited fuel and munitions stored on their decks, setting off an explosive chain reaction.

Some vessels managed to navigate their way to safety. Others were abandoned and allowed to drift in the channel leaking oil. The oil spread across the water and caught fire, igniting piers and shoreline. The fires raged for over 24 hours before more tugboats and salvage ships from Pearl Harbor managed to contain the spreading fires.

The military ordered a press blackout. Survivors were explicitly ordered not to mention the incident in letters home or to speak of it. Four days after the incident officials released a notice acknowledging an explosion had occurred causing “some loss of life, a number of injuries and resulted in the destruction of several small vessels.”

Six LSTs sank and several others were heavily damaged. The military’s official investigation determined that the most likely cause of the explosion was mishandled ammunition, probably a soldier dropping a mortar round and causing a chain reaction.

Officially, 163 died and 396 were injured, though some historians believe shoddy record-keeping by the Army in a rush to keep Operation Forager on track could have left more than 100 uncounted. The disaster ultimately delayed the attack on Saipan by only one day.

About a third of the casualties that day were Black members of the Army’s segregated 29th Chemical Decontamination Company. During the war Black troops were often assigned menial, but sometimes dangerous, tasks.

Bodies that were too badly burned or mutilated to be identified were buried at 36 grave sites at the Punchbowl cemetery. The headstones were originally marked simply “Unknown,” but have since been updated with the inscription “Unknown, West Loch Disaster, May 21, 1944.”

Two months after the West Loch disaster another munitions explosion killed hundreds more service members at Port Chicago in California. A munitions loading accident led to explosions that killed 320 sailors and wounded 390, most of them Black. A month later Black sailors at Port Chicago mutinied due to continued unsafe conditions.

Changing Communities

The West Loch and Port Chicago disasters led the Navy to change the way it handled munitions, as well as helped spur the military to begin desegregating its ranks. But the West Loch disaster would remain secret until the military finally declassified all files on the incident in 1962.

Bond said that in collecting oral histories of the war years, locals who lived nearby told him they remembered the sounds of the explosions and smoke, but knew little of what was going on.

“Their teachers made everybody, you know, close the curtains and look away, because they all knew you weren’t supposed to ever talk about anything,” Bond said.

Hess said that the history of the West Loch disaster is on her mind when she thinks of weapons being stockpiled there. She can see lights from the West Loch Annex at night from her home. “These sorts of accidents do happen,” she said.

While the Navy has conducted operations in Pearl Harbor continuously over the years, the surrounding communities have grown and changed significantly. Nearby Ewa Beach, once a relatively small rural seaside community made up of local agricultural workers, service members and their families has become a growing residential center.

Hess said that she believes tension between the U.S. and China over Taiwan and the South China Sea is driving the military to streamline its systems to prepare for faster deployments.

“I get how at one time it made sense to use that port,” said Hess. But she said times have changed and that the military has to acknowledge that.

“It’s dangerous to try to fit that sort of military might, that destructive power, in such a small area,” she said.

Bond said that the rapid growth of communities around West Loch coincided in part with the end of the Cold War when it felt as though the military was downsizing. He believes the military’s renewed focus on confronting China is prompting a buildup in Hawaii that’s clashing with communities that have grown in areas where military planners aren’t used to being challenged.

Hess is Native Hawaiian but comes from a military family; her father is a retired infantry officer. She said she understands the military’s desire for secrecy and its logistical challenges.

“I get the dilemma,” she said. “But does that make it okay? I don’t think so.”

Gabbard expressed more sympathy for military officials when it comes to secrecy around the exact makeup of the munitions the Army will store, acknowledging security concerns.

But he also stressed that with unease and rumors floating around the community it would benefit both the military and the community to hold a public hearing.

“That way we can deal with the facts,” Gabbard said.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Plan to upgrade, expand West Loch munitions annex has neighbors on edge

2020-09-21T03:21:00.007-07:00

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Plan to upgrade, expand West Loch

munitions annex has neighbors on edge

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/09/15/hawaii-news/plan-to-upgrade-expand-west-loch-munitions-annex-has-neighbors-on-edge/?HSA=f56431b918182c8b582fa3b0d66a5c6b0d5a6e78

In 1944 a munitions accident triggered an explosion that rocked West Loch, leaving 163 men dead and nearly 400 wounded in what is considered Pearl Harbor’s second-worst disaster in terms of fatalities.

Today, 76 years later, a military plan to expand the munitions depots at West Loch has left some people in neighboring communities wondering whether they could be exposed to similar danger.

A draft environmental assessment describes a new Army munitions storage complex at the Navy’s West Loch Annex within Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The project would be built over several phases of construction, the first of which is scheduled to begin in 2022.

The complex would be home to 35 storage magazines and a range of support structures over 50 acres, allowing for the relocation of existing Army munitions operations at Lualualei Annex in Waianae.

In addition, the Navy is building a new munitions facility at the same West Loch Annex featuring 24 new box magazines for storage of Navy ordnance.

Last month Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii awarded Nan Inc. a $33 million contract to build the magazines by September 2022.

Some community members, meanwhile, are a bit nervous about the plans. The military is being far too quiet about the latest project, they say, and the public needs to be better informed about what’s going on.

“I think they should put this on pause,” said Will Espero, a former state senator from Ewa Beach who is running for Honolulu City Council. “A lot of people don’t know about this.”

Even those who do know about the project are wary.

“The plan contains too much uncertainty and undisclosed materials,” said Poka Laenui of the Institute for the Advancement of Hawaiian Affairs. “The public is unable to effectively participate in this process or to condone an action which it does not understand.”

Laenui said a full environmental impact statement should be done, given the impact of the proposal.

Haunani Hess, a Native Hawaiian who lives on the Pearl City Peninsula, said the 1944 munitions disaster shows what can happen at such a facility.

What’s more, the historical targeting of Pearl Harbor because of its location and capacity “should stand as an obvious telltale sign,” especially with so many densely populated communities surrounding West Loch, Hess said.

“West Loch will be receiving and storing new magazines, and will most likely transport to and from Lualualei Valley. Is it possible to predict accurate calculation for moving explosives?” she said.

Ewa Beach historian John Bond said he believes a vast area of West Oahu, from Waipahu to Kapolei to Iroquois Point, could be vulnerable in an accident.

“There are very major impacts to the Ewa/West Oahu community, and there have been no hearings or presentations made for the public to understand what is going to happen literally in their backyards,” Bond said.

Bond said he thinks the military is using old blast zone data, and he says he can prove it using a United Nations software program, plus Department of Defense data and Army blast zone calculations released during a 2018 public review of a similar project at a base in North Carolina.

By his calculations, the potential blast effects at West Loch could extend out more than 3.5 miles, affecting Kapolei, Ewa, Kunia-Waipahu, Ford Island- Hickam, Haseko, Ewa Beach and Iroquois Point.

The blast wave, he said, could send shrapnel across the region and result in broken windows farther out and casualties and flattened buildings closer in.

Bond said he believes West Loch will only grow in size in the coming years as larger munitions of increasingly powerful explosives and missiles are needed to counter China and Russia.

Asked to comment on concerns from the community, NAVFAC responded with written answers from both the Army and Navy perspectives.

“Safety is always paramount. The preferred alternative in the draft EA maximizes the continued safe storage of ammunition at this site without negatively impacting the neighboring communities. In fact, this and concurrent Navy projects would improve safety by providing state-of-the-art magazine storage and significantly reducing the movement of ordnance on Oahu roadways.”

All new and rebuilt magazines, NAVFAC said, would be within the existing West Loch Annex Explosive Safety Quantity Distance arcs that extend across uninhabited Navy-owned land.

“The safety of community residents is of the utmost importance, and explosive safety is calculated with extreme care and scrutiny,” NAVFAC said.

The ESQD arcs represent a safety buffer zone determined by the design of the magazine and amount of explosives permitted to be stored inside the magazine, according to the response.

The military wouldn’t say what ammunition types and explosive amounts would be stored at West Loch, calling it “sensitive information.”

“However, as stated in the Draft EA, magazine storage capacity would be limited to maintain the current ESQD arc” within Navy property, and residential areas would not be affected, it said.

State Sen. Mike Gabbard asked the Navy for a public hearing, but it told him an environmental assessment was sufficient.

However, the Navy did say the deadline for the 30-day public review and comment period, which originally ended Sept. 8, has been extended to Friday.

In the meantime the draft EA is available online at 808ne.ws/2ZEj5NN and at the Ewa, Waipahu and Hawaii State libraries.

The public can submit comments through mail to Code: EV21AS Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, 258 Makalapa Drive, Suite 100, JBPHH, HI 96860; or by email to NFPAC-Receive@navy.mil.

The West Loch disaster remained classified top secret until 1962

2020-09-21T03:17:00.010-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

The West Loch disaster remained classified top secret until 1962

https://www.stripes.com/news/2nd-pearl-harbor-kept-top-secret-until-1962-commemorated-1.410773

The West Loch disaster remained classified top secret until 1962.

According the Navy’s history of the disaster, 34 ships were assembled in West Loch on May 21, 1944, to load ammunition and supplies in preparation for the invasion of Saipan. Twenty-nine LSTs were docked closely along six berths. And then a series of huge explosions. However the disaster was kept a secret and it happened again two months later in California at Port Chicago under almost the same conditions.

Only because of a subsequent mutiny and national press coverage were significant changes made, ultimately influencing the much larger safety arc (ESQD) around Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, established in 1955.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Ocean_Terminal_Sunny_Point

The catastrophe served as the genesis for the safety arc around MOTSU. On July 17, 1944, military munitions exploded at Port Chicago near San Francisco. The fireball soared nearly two miles into the sky and port was flattened, every building in the neighboring town was damaged, and the rumble was felt as far away as Nevada.

NOTE: MOTSU doesn't mention the 1944 West Loch explosion because it was kept SECRET until the early 1960's. MOTSU was established in 1955.

This begs the question that too much secrecy means the wider MOTSU safety arc (ESQD) confidentiality apparently didn't cause the Navy West Loch Ammunition Depot to expand its safety arc (ESQD) when they could have in the 1960's while the Ewa Plain was still mostly sugar cane fields.

By the 1990's it was widely believed that with the Cold War over the Navy and Army likely would not need lots of weapons storage magazines. Areas next to the old West Loch arc were allowed to develop into large suburban communities. Now in the 2020's a new Cold War has begun and large amounts of new missile systems will all be stockpiled into new missile magazines at West Loch directly next to thousands of homes and community centers.

The MOTSU Blast Zone Arc and criteria to determine it revealed

to the local public for the first time in 2017-2018

The so-called “blast zone” arc is confined to land owned outright by the federal government, inside the “buffer zone” on Carolina and Kure Beaches. This arc represents the minimum distance that can be safely maintained between an explosive site and habitable building.

Last year, after initiating the JLUS, the military terminal shared the radius of its previously undisclosed blast safety arcs. https://capefearcog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/November-Policy-Committee_web.pdf

Local news coverage: https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/07/14/what-motsu-wants-u-s-army-presents-53-recommendations-for-local-governments/

Note: IBD radius is approximately 3.5 miles and the K88 Distance radius is approximately 6 miles.

Public community meetings revealed that at roughly twice the size of the Inhabited Building Distance (IBD), the K88 quantity-distance arc includes areas with a high probability of glass breakage in the event of a terminal explosion. According to its former commander, Col. Marc Mueller, the K88 has remained unchanged for MOTSU, but the distance was new to the public when the military released it in 2018. There is also criteria for community emergency evacuations for initial response to an incident involving ammunition/explosives. Distance applies to any given facility – docks were used as an example.

MOTSU Provides Important Clues About Planned Army West Loch Munitions Storage Complex

Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU) is one of the largest military terminals in the world. In 2018 the long secretive and mostly classified facility used a $270,000 Department of Defense grant with $30,000 local matching funds for a Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) designed to improve military and community collaboration. The 209-page study acknowledges MOTSU can improve its communication efforts with the public and outlines ways municipal partners can consider the military’s mission while managing the NC region’s explosive growth. (i.e. like Ewa West Oahu)

MOTSU Blast Safety Arcs (ESQD) Are More Than DOUBLE

That Of Old West Loch Arc Radius Of 1.4 Miles

The K88 arc ESQD of approximately 2.8 miles is an area where there is “enhanced” glass breakage if there was a 1,000,000 kg (2,204622.62 pounds) Hazard Division 1.1 Explosive event in Ewa West Oahu.

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

West Loch MK46/ MK48 Torpedo Shop Shows Off Mk 48 Torpedo's As Seen In Google Earth

2020-09-21T02:54:00.006-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

West Loch Mk46/ Mk48 Torpedo Shop Shows Off Mk 48 Torpedo's As Seen In Google Earth

The Navy is not shy about showing off their conventional munitions. You can zoom right in on the Torpedo Shop facility next to the N-Storage and see a bunch of Mark 48's sitting outside.

Go up to pier 4-5 and see the Virginia class attack sub taking on 12 Tomahawks and a lot of Harpoon missiles.

The Mk 46 Torpedo

http://www.seaforces.org/wpnsys/SURFACE/Mk-46-torpedo.htm

The Mk 48 Torpedo

http://www.seaforces.org/wpnsys/SUBMARINE/Mk-48-torpedo.htm

West Loch location - they certainly don't mind displaying them

https://goo.gl/maps/Udp93iNDtfaRxSMd6

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

New Missile Magazines: Navy Expanding Munition Wharfs On West Coast And Soon To West Loch Oahu

2020-09-21T02:04:00.006-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

Navy Expanding Munition Wharfs On West Coast And Soon To West Loch Oahu

Navy gets go-ahead for $150 million plan to move ammunition

wharf at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/07/02/navy-gets-go-ahead-for-150-million-plan-to-move-ammunition-wharf-at-naval-weapons-station-seal-beach/

Construction could begin by the end of the year, with completion by 2025.

*********************************************************************************

New missile magazines proposed for

Naval Magazine Indian Island

https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/new-missile-magazines-proposed-for-naval-magazine-indian-island/

PORT HADLOCK — The U.S. Navy is asking for public comment on its plans to build new missile magazines at Naval Magazine Indian Island.

The Navy is proposing to replace three World War II igloo-style magazines on the west side of the island with five new high explosive magazines, according to the draft environmental assessment.

The Navy wants to build five new magazines specifically engineered for storage of missiles, construct a pre-engineered metal building to store inert materials, provide a two-stall charging station for two forklifts and construct about 3,500 feet of new road.

Construction would begin this summer and end in 2020, according to the draft environmental assessment.

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

Coming Soon: Much harder to defend against Hyper Sonic Missiles Reportedly 17 Times Faster

2020-09-21T01:21:00.007-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

Coming Soon: Much harder to defend against Hyper Sonic Missiles Reportedly 17 Times Faster

A Hypersonic Missile War Could Be Over In 10-15 Minutes

There would be no time to take cover or put out a missile alert

https://interestingengineering.com/how-hypersonic-missiles-work-and-why-theyre-starting-a-global-arms-race

The world's superpowers are developing an array of hypersonic missiles that can travel across the world faster than Mach 5, or 3,800 miles per hour. These weapons could provide almost immediate weapons response capabilities for the countries that have them. So much so that developing new hypersonic tech is creating a new arms race around the world.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/16/politics/pentagon-hypersonic-missile/index.html#:~:text=Hypersonic%20missiles%20are%20traditionally%20defined,of%20operating%20at%20varying%20altitudes

Given their tremendous speed and ability to maneuver in the atmosphere, hypersonic missiles are seen as particularly hard to defend against using conventional missile defense systems, which are designed to counter and intercept traditional ballistic missile threats, the trajectory of which are much more predictable than their hypersonic counterparts.

"Trying to defend against a hypersonic vehicle, that uncertainty in trajectory, becomes very difficult to deal with and defenses become very difficult because you've coupled very high speed with uncertainty in flight trajectory," a senior US defense official told CNN.

Tremendous range

The boost glide system, which was the system tested in March, places a maneuverable glide vehicle atop a ballistic missile, giving the missile much enhanced maneuverability at hypersonic speed.

The weapon is seen as having tremendous range, 1,000 miles or greater, but is more expensive and larger than the cruise missile variant.

The other kind of hypersonic missile the US is working on is a hypersonic cruise missile and is much more like a traditional cruise missile such as the Tomahawk missile, a weapon long used by the military to strike enemy targets.

The hypersonic missiles would travel up to ten times faster than the Tomahawk missile currently in the military's arsenal.

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

U.S. Army to Spend Over $1 Billion on New Missiles, Hawaii Marines Prepare For High Tech Missile War

2020-09-21T01:08:00.010-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

U.S. Army to Spend Over $1 Billion on New Missiles

Marines In Hawaii Prepare For High Tech Missile War

https://aerospacedefencetalks.com/u-s-army-to-spend-over-1-billion-on-new-lr-ps-missile/1356/

And West Loch will likely be storing a lot of them for the Army, Navy and Marines

The U.S. Army plans to speculate over $1 Billion for growing and test next-generation, a long-range precision-strike missile designed for the U.S. Army’s PrSM program.

Based on the Inside Defense, the Army intends to purchase 1,018 Precision Strike Missiles for $1 billion across the fiscal year 2021 future years defense program.

This new surface-to-surface weapon system will ship revamped capabilities to attack, neutralize, suppress, and destroy targets using missile-delivered oblique fires out to 499+ kilometers. PrSM provides the Joint Force Commander with elevated range, lethality, survivability, and missile loadout.

Numerous weapons manufacturers are shopping around various versions of

explosive power and longer ranges for new generation missiles.

A new “Marine Littoral Regiment” coming to Hawaii — the first of its kind in the Marine Corps — represents a major shift for the service in the “great power” competition playing out in the Western Pacific and preparation for a high-tech missile war in the region.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2020/05/14/new-marine-littoral-regiment-designed-to-fight-in-contested-maritime-environment-coming-to-hawaii/#:~:text=The%20Marine%20Corps%20is%20putting,of%20the%20Marine%20Corps%20Gen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM-140_ATACMS

The Navy will also have its own versions called Naval Strike Missile (NSM)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Strike_Missile

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

Google Earth Image of Navy Virginia Class Attack Submarine Being Loaded At West Loch Pier W 4-5

2020-09-21T00:55:00.010-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

Google Earth Image of Navy Virginia Class Attack Submarine

Being Loaded At West Loch Pier W 4-5

These are NOT nuclear weapons, they are conventional munitions

BELOW: Virginia class attack sub at “Whiskey” wharf W 4-5 for attack subs loading 12 Tomahawks and large assortment of Harpoon missiles (in green). Tomahawk can carry conventional or nuke but currently no nuke version being deployed, however Trump has left treaty which would allow Navy to rearm with nuke Tomahawk cruise missiles. Reportedly with hasn’t happened yet.

https://goo.gl/maps/8nAUZofR9V1kVeHu6

BONUS IMAGE from Google Earth – Whisky Wharf W4-5 Virginia class attack sub loading with its full complement of 12 Tomahawks, Harpoons and Mk-48 torpedo's.

Usual Virginia class weapons armaments:
12 × VLS (Tomahawk BGM-109) tubes
4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes (Mk-48 torpedo), RGM-84 Harpoon
25 × torpedoes & missiles (torpedo room) + 12 x missiles (VLS tubes)
Block V:
VPM module (28 Tomahawk BGM-109)
12 × VLS (Tomahawk BGM-109) tubes
4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes (Mk-48 torpedo), RGM-84 Harpoon
65 × torpedoes & missiles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia-class_submarine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk_(missile)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpoon_(missile)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_48_torpedo

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

MOTSU Provides Important Clues About Planned Army West Loch Munitions Storage Complex

2020-09-21T00:44:00.029-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

MOTSU Provides Important Clues About Planned

Army West Loch Munitions Storage Complex

https://www.ourstate.com/military-ocean-terminal-sunny-point/

Historic photo shows MOTSU port operations which still depends on 80% rail service. Freight rail is one particular area that the US excels at and areas like NC are well served.

This is where the mighty ships come in to load or unload their cargo of weapons: rockets, missiles, howitzers, grenades, projectiles, pyrotechnics. The Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU), run by the U.S. Army, is the nation’s largest ocean terminal for military munitions. “Wherever we’re fighting is probably where we’re sending stuff, or they’re sending stuff back to us,” says Steve Kerr, the deputy to the commander at MOTSU. (West Loch serves and is being greatly expanded for a similar purpose for Indo-Pacific military operations.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Ocean_Terminal_Sunny_Point

A catastrophe served as the genesis for MOTSU. On July 17, 1944, military munitions exploded at Port Chicago near San Francisco. The fireball soared nearly two miles into the sky and port was flattened, every building in the neighboring town was damaged, and the rumble was felt as far away as Nevada.

NOTE: MOTSU doesn't mention the 1944 West Loch explosion because it was kept SECRET until the early 1960's. MOTSU was established in 1955.

The MOTSU Blast Zone Arc and criteria to determine it revealed

to the local public for the first time in 2017-2018

Local news coverage: https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/07/14/what-motsu-wants-u-s-army-presents-53-recommendations-for-local-governments/

Note: IBD radius is approximately 3.5 miles and the K88 Distance radius is approximately 6 miles.

MOTSU Provides Important Clues About Planned Army West Loch Munitions Storage Complex

MOTSU Blast Safety Arcs (ESQD) Are More Than DOUBLE

That Of Old West Loch Arc Radius Of 1.4 Miles

If we use the value of 5,000,000 pounds of TNT (2267961.85 kg, 2500 tons) the blast zone arc VBD Vulnerable Building Distance is then extended out to parts of Kapolei, Hickam, Ford Island, Leeward Community College, Royal Kunia, all of Haseko and likely also affect Makakilo. Note how large the green PTRD Public Traffic Route Distance is. The Ewa community in yellow would suffer significant damage.

NavFac says they use NAVSEA OP 5, Volume 1 which is loaded with references to other DoD manuals but does provide some specifics:

"The ESQD arcs for ships and vessels carrying cargo ammunition are based on the total NEW of cargo ammunition aboard plus the total NEW of the ammunition handled or staged."

"The ESQD for FBM submarines is based on the total quantity of missiles on the submarine if a hatch is open for any operation directly related to a missile.

(1) If the hatches on a fleet ballistic missile (FBM) submarine are opened for any

operation related directly to the missile (i.e., loading or maintenance), the total NEW of all missiles aboard must be applied to the pier NEW limit. (2) AE stowed outside of designated ship's magazines, launchers, or ready service lockers will be considered cargo ammunition, --etc"

It is very important to understand that placing explosives in covered earth magazines DOES NOT mean they are much safer. The fact is that all munitions are staged to be transported. When in the transit stage, forklift, dolly, truck, to pier crane, ship etc. is when the small accidents become big DISASTERS.

Using another example from MOTSU, a 1,000,000 blast zone radius for Vulnerable Building Distance (VBD) would be 4440 meters or 2.76 miles. This means Waipahu, Ewa west of Kualaka’i Parkway (AKA North South Road) Ewa Beach- Ocean Pointe (Haseko) Ewa Gentry – Ewa Villages, and over to Iroquois Point. The Inhabited Building Distance (IBD) is 2220M or 1.4 miles. This is very interesting as it is exactly the same distance as shown in the historic Building 1 map of “Whisky” wharf W 1-2-3, which shows an ESQD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance) arrow pointing southwest of 7405 feet (1.4 miles.) This strongly suggests that the original West Loch explosive blast arc was based upon the same Hazard Division 1.1 Explosives input of 1,000,000 kg (2,204622.62 pounds, 1102.3 tons) of TNT munitions.

I know DoD has their own vendor software they use to calculate explosive arcs, requiring Arc GIS, however I invite you to try out the very easy to use and free software 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 coordinates:

Latitude: 21.345589355722055

Longitude: -158.01463734402498

The blast arcs in my testimony are using Army DoD MOTSU criteria

Also look at the well reported meetings with the Cape Fear community. Last year, after initiating the JLUS, the military terminal shared the radius of its previously undisclosed blast safety arcs.

https://capefearcog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/November-Policy-Committee_web.pdf

The Army West Loch munitions facility plans to bring in huge ammunition ships. That is buried in the bottom of their EA.

Local North Carolina news coverage about MOTSU:

https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/07/14/what-motsu-wants-u-s-army-presents-53-recommendations-for-local-governments/

Cape Fear: Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point Joint Land Use Study

https://capefearcog.org/sunnypoint/

See: GENERAL DOCUMENTS

This is the type of study that should be done in Hawaii if the City, State and Federal government are actually concerned about the health, safety and welfare of the local West Oahu communities.

· COL Mueller's presentation (PDF)

JLUS Overview (PDF)

JLUS Executive Summary (PDF)
JLUS Final Document (PDF)
JLUS Data Management Plan and Technical Addendum (PDF)
JLUS Public Participation Plan (PDF)

John Bond Ewa historian

Software used to determine ESQD - (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance)

2020-09-21T00:24:00.015-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

How To Determine West Loch Explosive Arc Circle and EQSD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance)

What is the Explosive Circle at West Loch? People have heard about it for many decades and news articles written about it but the Navy has never produced a map. There is no reason not too because unlike popular belief, it actually doesn’t represent a potential nuclear explosion because if there was one it would likely wipe out a five or ten mile radius at least, so no one wants to see a map showing that.

No, the West Loch explosive arc represents a huge conventional munitions explosion event like 1941 USS Arizona or 1944 West Loch disasters* (see these listed in reference section.) So if we don’t have any official map that the Navy will provide we can “reverse engineer” the arc based upon using geometry and history information. Below is a 1942 map showing the West Loch ammunition wharf loading sites.

Using the Photoshop circle selection tool and Google Earth the full circle of the arc can be determined by expanding it until it fits into the visible west side arc next to the Ewa communities, seen below.

The radius of the circle points to Whiskey wharf site W 1-3 – Pearl Harbor munitions transfer epicenter.

Above is an historic map of the West Loch depot from a HABS report for the key historic Building 1.

The historic map shows an ESQD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance) arrow pointing southwest of 7405 feet (1.4 miles.) This is a primary clue as it is close to the circle visible arc seen in Google Earth. So what determined that it should be that explosives safety distance and using what munitions danger criteria? Fortunately while researching this I found a great on-line munitions hazard tool produced by the United Nations ITAG (International Technical Ammunitions Guideline) which scales to net explosives input.

By putting in the coordinates for West Loch Pearl Harbor the program shows the explosive blast circle. Then add in the quantity of explosives to fit the circle area- and that is 150,000 kg. Hazard Division 1.1 Explosives are basically TNT type munitions. 150,000 kg = 330693.39 pounds of munitions explosives. Note that purple is the Vulnerable Building Distance (VBD seen top right) 2359m (1.46 miles.)

So how to determine the ESQD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance) for the Army’s planned new Munitions Storage Complex? There are numerous variables in determining an ESQD because it all depends on how much ammunition, what type, etc. So, the only ballpark way of determining it is to use the previous Navy ESQD centered over Building 1 but moving the arc westward to the approximate center of the new Army Munitions Storage Complex and using Hazard Division 1.1 Explosives input.

The result of the westward circle plot shows the purple VBD is 2359m (1.46 miles) and seriously overlaps into the Ewa community, reaching Fort Weaver Rd. Keep in mind that military convoys carrying high explosives will be on local Ewa community roadways. The significance of all of this can be seen in the next set of very relevant information provided by the Army for briefing the local North Carolina Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU.) This community brief provided very rare explosive blast circle determination factors that can and should be applied to the Army planned Munitions Storage Complex.

MOTSU Provides Important Clues About Planned Army West Loch Munitions Storage Complex

https://www.ourstate.com/military-ocean-terminal-sunny-point/

This is where the mighty ships come in to load or unload their cargo of weapons: rockets, missiles, howitzers, grenades, projectiles, pyrotechnics. The Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU), run by the U.S. Army, is the nation’s largest ocean terminal for military munitions. “Wherever we’re fighting is probably where we’re sending stuff, or they’re sending stuff back to us,” says Steve Kerr, the deputy to the commander at MOTSU. (West Loch serves a similar purpose for Indo-Pacific military operations.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Ocean_Terminal_Sunny_Point

The MOTSU Blast Zone Arc and criteria to determine it revealed

to the local public for the first time

Local news coverage: https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/07/14/what-motsu-wants-u-s-army-presents-53-recommendations-for-local-governments/

Note: IBD radius is approximately 3.5 miles and the K88 Distance radius is approximately 6 miles.

Using an example from MOTSU, a 1,000,000 blast zone radius for Vulnerable Building Distance (VBD) would be 4440 meters or 2.76 miles. This means Waipahu, Ewa west of Kualaka’i Parkway (AKA North South Road) Ewa Beach- Ocean Pointe (Haseko) Ewa Gentry – Ewa Villages, and over to Iroquois Point. The Inhabited Building Distance (IBD) is 2220M or 1.4 miles. This is very interesting as it is exactly the same distance as shown in the historic Building 1 map of “Whisky” wharf W 1-2-3, which shows an ESQD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance) arrow pointing southwest of 7405 feet (1.4 miles.) This strongly suggests that the original West Loch explosive blast arc was based upon the same Hazard Division 1.1 Explosives input of 1,000,000 kg (2,204622.62 pounds, 1102.3 tons) of TNT munitions.

The K88 arc ESQD of approximately 2.8 miles is an area where there is “enhanced” glass breakage if there was a 1,000,000 kg (2,204622.62 pounds) Hazard Division 1.1 Explosive event in Ewa West Oahu.

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

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

News Articles and Features Related To West Loch Explosive Dangers and Storage

2020-09-20T18:04:00.010-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

News Articles and Features Related To West Loch Explosive Dangers and Storage

Army Major Pulls Back MOTSU's Curtain to Reveal MSC's Strategic Role

https://www.msc.navy.mil/publications/news/2020/20200619MSCHQ.htm

The history of the Naval Ammunition Depot Lualualei and West Loch

http://ambard.com/update/History-of-NAD.pdf

25th Sustainment Brigade Conducts Ammunition Transport Mission

https://www.army.mil/article/163895/25th_sustainment_brigade_conducts_ammunition_transport_mission

Pentagon’s proposed 2021 budget focuses on future weapons to compete with Russia, China

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/pentagon-s-proposed-2021-budget-focuses-on-future-weapons-to-compete-with-russia-china-1.618244

US military deploys new type of nuclear weapon seen as key to countering Russia

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/04/politics/us-nuclear-weapon-submarine/index.html

US Nuclear Weapon Delivery Systems

https://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/nm/nmhb/chapters/chapter3.htm

Navy Builds Underground Weapons Storage Facility

https://fas.org/blogs/security/2016/06/pacific-ssbn-base/#:~:text=The%20US%20Navy%20has%20quietly,submarine%20fleet%20operating%20in%20the

Silverdale WA

https://www.ssp.navy.mil/about/locations.html

Begin With New START, Not a New Arms Race

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2020-06/focus/begin-new-start-not-new-arms-race

A 1992 survey said Hawaii had 275 nuclear warheads; now there are none to be found

http://archives.starbulletin.com/98/10/07/news/story4.html

Under siege: Safety in the nuclear weapons complex

https://thebulletin.org/2018/08/under-siege-safety-in-the-nuclear-weapons-complex/

SSBN-726 Ohio-Class FBM Submarine

https://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/slbm/ssbn-726.htm

Navy not required to do EIS for nuke sites (Because nukes cannot be confirmed nor denied)

http://www.hawaii.edu/ohelo/courtdecisions/CatholicAction80DW.htm

United States Supreme Court WEINBERGER v. CATHOLIC ACTION OF HAWAII

(1981) No. 80-1377 Argued: October 13, 1981,Decided: December 1, 1981

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/454/139.html

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

How To Determine West Loch Explosive Arc Circle and EQSD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance)

2020-09-20T17:58:00.009-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

How To Determine West Loch Explosive Arc Circle and EQSD (Explosives Safety Quantity Distance)

The radius of the circle points to Whiskey wharf site W 1-3 – Pearl Harbor munitions transfer epicenter.

Above is an historic map of the West Loch depot from a HABS report for the key historic Building 1.

MOTSU Provides Important Clues About Planned Army West Loch Munitions Storage Complex

https://www.ourstate.com/military-ocean-terminal-sunny-point/

This is where the mighty ships come in to load or unload their cargo of weapons: rockets, missiles, howitzers, grenades, projectiles, pyrotechnics. The Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU), run by the U.S. Army, is the nation’s largest ocean terminal for military munitions. “Wherever we’re fighting is probably where we’re sending stuff, or they’re sending stuff back to us,” says Steve Kerr, the deputy to the commander at MOTSU. (West Loch serves a similar purpose for Indo-Pacific military operations.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Ocean_Terminal_Sunny_Point

The MOTSU Blast Zone Arc and criteria to determine it revealed to the local public for the first time

Local news coverage: https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/07/14/what-motsu-wants-u-s-army-presents-53-recommendations-for-local-governments/

Explosions History and Other Reference Notes:

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

Big historic blast explosions, including two in Pearl Harbor

2020-09-20T17:40:00.009-07:00

Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond

Big historic blast 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

Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot 1926- On July 10, 1926, lightning struck one of the explosives storage structures during a thunderstorm in Lake Denmark, NJ. As a result, several million pounds of explosives detonated over a period of two or three days. This caused $70,000,000 in damage (approximately $1 billion today), massive structural devastation (187 of 200 buildings destroyed), and military and civilian casualties. As a result of a full-scale Congressional investigation, Congress directed the establishment of the Armed Forces Explosives Safety Board to provide oversight on every aspect of explosives under the control of the US Armed Forces. http://thevane.gawker.com/july-10-1926-the-day-nature-blew-up-a-town-in-new-jer-1602586498

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

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/07/video-analysis-beirut-explosion-reveals-its-power-even-great-distances/?arc404=true

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

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

Major Expansion of West Loch Ammunition Depot

2020-09-19T20:47:00.030-07:00

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.

The Pentagon is preparing the US military to fight the next war which will be a major conflict against a nation-state with similar military capabilities to the United States, such as China or Russia. This requires much more powerful long range weapons and missile munitions. The place on Oahu they want to store them for Indo-Pacific theatre of operations is in West Loch, PH. The danger to the Ewa and West Oahu community is enormous and cannot be understated. Past US wars have shown that once war plan decisions are made there will be a requirement for ever increasing weapons and munitions storage.

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

http://oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/Other_TEN_Publications/2020-02-08-OA-NEPA-FEA-JBPHH-West-Loch-Annex-Magazines.pdf

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.

Above, Another site has also been identified for an Alternative or Phase II location

U.S. Army West Loch Ordnance Facilities. Draft Environmental Assessment – Comments Closed

https://www.navfac.navy.mil/content/navfac/en/navfac_worldwide/pacific/about_us/national-environmental-policy-act--nepa--information/jcr%3acontent/par1/pdfdownload_656735107/file.res/West%20Loch%20Army%20Mags%20EA_Public%20Review%20Draft.pdf

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:

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.

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

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/07/video-analysis-beirut-explosion-reveals-its-power-even-great-distances/?arc404=true

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

http://asktop.net/wp/download/26/EM%20385-1-97%20Explovsives%20Safety%20and%20Health%20Requirements%20Manual.pdf

Defense Acquisition University – Explosives handling training courses

https://www.dau.edu/cop/ammo/DAU%20Sponsored%20Documents/Tactical%20Explosives%20Safety%20Quick%20Reference%20Guide%20June%205%202019.pdf

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:
(For the purposes of USGS form 9-4040-A, enter the largest blast you did/will conduct in the last/next calendar year.)

	pounds
	kilograms

Enter the heat of combustion or the heat of explosion of the explosive:
(Use 0.88 kilocalories per gram for ANFO (ISEE Blasters' Handbook, 17th ed.)

-	kilocalories/gram

The equivalent amount of TNT is:

			in pounds
			in kilograms
			in short tons

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

https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/chemical-spills/resources/overpressure-levels-concern.html

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

https://www.secnav.navy.mil/doni/Directives/08000%20Ordnance%20Material%20Management%20and%20Support/08-00%20General%20Ordnance%20Material%20Support/8020.14A%20W%20CH-1.PDF

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

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/

Ewa Gentry New North Park Development Half A Mile From Major New Army Missile Magazine Munitions Storage Complex

2020-09-19T16:28:00.019-07:00

I wonder how many people will want to buy a home in Gentry's North Park?

NorthPark by Gentry - https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1DFoL-bFw8_WH9awzEcC7mP0n7S7qU5Rf&usp=sharing

I am by no means anti-military. However I am very concerned when specifically NavFac, is running these possibly very dangerous new munitions projects under the public radar without adequate presentation and public comment period. public websites, even doing an EIS, which the Navy (NavFac) always refuses to do. It's always FONSI.

I am especially concerned that they are actually lying to the public claiming the historic 1.4 mile distance is sufficient. Even more insane is their claim that having the new Army facility about .5 miles from a packed suburban community is "safe" just because it is "inside the arc" of 1.4 miles. And don't fall for their "safe magazines" pitch. The danger and explosive arc of munitions is in effect the moment the magazine door is opened and the movement to and from the ammunition ship or sub begins. The NavFac's new Captain Meyers told Sen. Mike Gabbard:

---they use NAVSEA OP 5, Volume 1 which is loaded with references to other DoD manuals but does provide some specifics:

"The ESQD arcs for ships and vessels carrying cargo ammunition are based on the total NEW of cargo ammunition aboard plus the total NEW of the ammunition handled or staged."

"The ESQD for FBM submarines is based on the total quantity of missiles on the submarine if a hatch is open for any operation directly related to a missile.

(1) If the hatches on a fleet ballistic missile (FBM) submarine are opened for any

I invite you to try out the very easy to use 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 coordinates:

Latitude: 21.345589355722055

Longitude: -158.01463734402498

The blast arcs in my testimony are using Army DoD MOTSU criteria

Also look at the well reported meetings with the Cape Fear community.

Last year, after initiating the JLUS, the military terminal shared the radius of its previously undisclosed blast safety arcs.

https://capefearcog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/November-Policy-Committee_web.pdf

The Army West Loch munitions facility plans to bring in huge ammunition ships. That buried in the bottom of their EA.

Local news coverage:

https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/07/14/what-motsu-wants-u-s-army-presents-53-recommendations-for-local-governments/

Cape Fear: Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point Joint Land Use Study

https://capefearcog.org/sunnypoint/

See: GENERAL DOCUMENTS

This is the type of study that should be done in Hawaii if the City, State and Federal government are actually concerned about the health, safety and welfare of the local communities.

· COL Mueller's presentation (PDF)

JLUS Overview (PDF)

JLUS Executive Summary (PDF)
JLUS Final Document (PDF)
JLUS Data Management Plan and Technical Addendum (PDF)
JLUS Public Participation Plan (PDF)

John Bond Ewa historian

EMAIL to Sen. Gabbard:

Aloha Mike,

The new captain taking over from Marc Delao has obviously been given the talking points right out of the EA and clearly doesn't understand that being inside of the historic ESQD arc does NOT mean the Ewa community is safe. That arc was calculated in maybe 1942-52.

The information that was made public to the local community by the Army in 2018 (MOTSU) clearly shows that safety arcs MUST BE much larger than 1.4 miles, which is what the old historic arc is. Look at my testimony - (see attached map) the Army munitions site is HALF THE DISTANCE from the old Building 1 Whiskey Pier 1-2-3. The moment ANY munitions are being moved from a magazine is where the explosive arc must be calculated from, not Building 1 where an ammunition ship would be docked.

This safety arc issue is in many DoD manuals. I looked at ammunition storage sites all over the US and particularly Indian Island, WA, the biggest west coast Navy depot and the closest community is 3-4 miles away or more- mostly just small widely spaced homes. This is also the case at MOTSU, etc.

Ewa West Oahu is BY FAR the closest packed community to a MAJOR munitions depot in the entire US. This happened because the Navy set their arc in 1940-50's when this entire area was CANE FIELDS. They had already thrown out all of the other inhabitants - farmers and fishing villages that were within the old WW-II NAD area. But what happened is that Ewa West Oahu expanded until today the developments are right next to the arc boundary, which used OLD CRITERIA.

Not even talking nukes, the newer Army and Navy missiles are far more powerful than the 16 inch shells that were brought along the old OR&L railway from Lualualei. Back then there were no KoOlina's, etc. The Navy gave the ammunition railway up in the early 70's to the current HRS non-profit.

it is disturbing to hear Captain Meyers say what he did to you because it means he has never seen the maps that show where the ammunition stockpiles from Lualualei and the 30+ Type D missile magazines are going- half the distance closer to the Ewa Community than Building 1. There must be an HONEST discussion with the community about all of this and what will be brought in from Lualualei and what the NEW munitions will be. My attached maps are using the latest United Nations IATG explosive arc calculation software.

https://www.un.org/disarmament/un-saferguard/toolkit/

The captain says they use NAVSEA OP 5, Volume 1 which is loaded with references to other DoD manuals but doesn't provide any specifics.

"The ESQD arcs for ships and vessels carrying cargo ammunition are based on the total NEW of cargo ammunition aboard plus the total NEW of the ammunition handled or staged."

"The ESQD for FBM submarines is based on the total quantity of missiles on the submarine if a hatch is open for any operation directly related to a missile.

(1) If the hatches on a fleet ballistic missile (FBM) submarine are opened for any operation related directly to the missile (i.e., loading or maintenance), the total NEW of all missiles aboard must be applied to the pier NEW limit. (2) AE stowed outside of designated ship's magazines, launchers, or ready service lockers will be considered cargo ammunition, etc"

What this means is they will not tell anyone what they will be specifically storing and moving near the local community. This should also require an EIS. If they refuse to do one then that means they are also bringing in nukes. See my testimony references.

This plan demands PUBLIC DISCLOSURE as was done by the Army for MOTSU, NC. in 2018. Unfortunately the Navy in Hawaii appears like they won't do that.

John Bond Ewa Historian

https://west-loch-blast-zone.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestLochBlastZone/