Features

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—formerly the Radiation Laboratory—will hold a Wednesday evening public hearing on the proposed 10-year hazardous waste facility permit for the site. 

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. 

The permit, if approved, would allow the facility to continue to store 23,320 gallons of hazardous and mixed wastes on Building 85 at the site. 

Hazardous wastes include a variety of chemicals as well a batteries, metal sludges, PCB-contaminated equipment, oily rags, paints and other substances. Mixed waste is defined as hazardous waste containing low levels of radioactivity. 

Neighbors and environmentalists have protested the storage and treatment of waste at the facility, citing potential dangers to themselves and the Strawberry Creek watershed. 

The permit would allow treatment of up to 1,158 gallons of waste daily. 

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control has also identified 174 areas on LBNL properties where toxics have been released. The eight locations where radiation has been released are being cleaned up by the U.S. Department of Energy and 45 of the other 166 sites are being cleaned up under state supervision. 

The remaining 122 locations were identified as non-threatening and needing no additional cleanup.