6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

[Bubba1235]

So I'm reading about the town in LA. where a company recovers explosives / propellent from old munitions and the local authorities "found" 6 million pounds of it sitting everywhere.

I was under the impression any company dealing with materials like this were inspected on a regular basis, apparently not in this case. How in the world does anyone accumulate 6 million pounds of explosives and not see the risk??? I would have been terrified to even get close to the property. :scared:

 

[JB]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Relax, Bubba. The sky is not falling. The risk is trivial compared to living on a volcano, a hurricane zone, or a major earth fault.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Hey Bubba,

I guess you have never drove through the Umatilla Chemical Weapons Depot in NE Oregon, what they have stored there makes 6 million pounds of munitions look like a 4th of July firecracker!

LOL

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

I don't see the big deal, have seen 5,000,000 lbs of explosives loaded in missles. There is a differance of class A, B, and C. Oh nothing like sitting on a nuke warhead acting like it was a horse. Just sayin.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Ha! Peanuts compared to the 2200 nukes in the ABQ area...

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

I guess everybody's perception is it's not a big deal...
I suppose under the right circumstances, with the correct protocols and storage facility, it shouldn't be.
Now on the other hand, when the quantity of explosives is a surprise to local authorities, IMHO that should be cause for concern.
If there's an accident, those authorities are the first to respond, and have their butts hanging out in the breeze.

If the company hasn't been disclosing what's been going on, makes you wonder if they've been handling, and storing the explosives correctly. Or if their just throwing caution to the wind, stockpiling unwanted explosives to make a buck.

 

[JB]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

There are really bad guys who would like to know about that sort of accumulation. I wonder why DNS allowed the disclosure.

 

[nwcove]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

if that is a tnt equivelent to 6 kilo tons, and its not being stored correctly, it should be cause for concern. ( "little boy" , used in ww2 was 16 kilo tons, and the largest man made explosion before that was 2.9 kilo tons.....both with devastating results!!)

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

There are really bad guys who would like to know about that sort of accumulation. I wonder why DNS allowed the disclosure.

They have evacuated the town.
Once you do that, putting a gag order on is just about impossible....both logistically and legally.

The issue here is mostly that there is too large an accumulation in one spot....they have a large property and should have smaller amounts in a larger number of locations.
That is what is being done right now....relocation of the bulk of the material into safer sized lots and better storage containment.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

After 26 years as an officer in the Military, I can guarantee you the bad guys already know where this stuff is, and have been working on ways to get to it. Often times the bad guys knew where I stuff was before we even got a memo on it, we have a bunch of really bad guys right here at home that unfortunately are willing to sell their soul as well as ours for their pocket book.

I wish it was not so, but often times hiding in plain sight is the best defense.

 

[gm280]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Well for starters, the powder used in munitions is not explosive UNLESS it is contained in a tightly sealed metal or strongly constructed container. I reload as one of my other hobbies and can tell you your can of gasoline for your lawn machines is way more dangerous then ammunition powder by a long shot...pardon that pun. You can light a match and put it to ammunition powder and it will burn slowly. You would not believe how slowly. It will NOT explode. But don't try that with gasoline or you will be hairless if you do live through it... Black powder is a different animal though. And I'm sure they weren't hoarding black powder... There are lots of places all across the USA that do recovers the powder from all types of ammunition and repackages it for general public sales. It is totally safe and legal to do that. I wouldn't mind having a few hundred pounds of that stuff myself...love to shoot and reload! :joyous:

 

[nwcove]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Well for starters, the powder used in munitions is not explosive UNLESS it is contained in a tightly sealed metal or strongly constructed container. I reload as one of my other hobbies and can tell you your can of gasoline for your lawn machines is way more dangerous then ammunition powder by a long shot...pardon that pun. You can light a match and put it to ammunition powder and it will burn slowly. You would not believe how slowly. It will NOT explode. But don't try that with gasoline or you will be hairless if you do live through it... Black powder is a different animal though. And I'm sure they weren't hoarding black powder... There are lots of places all across the USA that do recovers the powder from all types of ammunition and repackages it for general public sales. It is totally safe and legal to do that. I wouldn't mind having a few hundred pounds of that stuff myself...love to shoot and reload! :joyous:

i'd add a disclaimer to your post in regards to lighting a match and putting it to any type of explosives, modern gun powder or flour! ( yes flour will explode if its airborn and in concentrations between its lel and uel) .....dont try this at home folks!

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

My wife worked in a sugar plant when I was stationed in Hawaii many years ago, and I can tell you, with all of the explosions I have seen while in the Military, one of the worst I ever saw, was when there was a spark in the sugar plant, I thought it was a dozen 2000 pound bombs going off, my goodness what a mess it created! I was called in to consult on the cause and effect of a simple household food item explosion, talk about devastation. It was worse than the Bunker busters we use!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Meh, how long has it been stored there? Since WWII?... and now they're all of a sudden scared it's going to explode?

I think someone has overreacted on the evacuation, and the media is hyping this for all they can on a "slow news" day.

Now if it was 6M lbs. of primer cord...

 

[LongLine]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

That sugar plant that blew up was the cause of the Chemical Safety Board's recomendation to OSHA concerning "explosible dust", which is now law. I think it's amazing that if a company has a few gallons of solvent, it has to be reported, air permits etc, yet explosives go un-noticed.

Someone once told me that the old munitions are more dangerous than new, something about corrosion.

 

[rbh]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

That sugar plant that blew up was the cause of the Chemical Safety Board's recomendation to OSHA concerning "explosible dust", which is now law. I think it's amazing that if a company has a few gallons of solvent, it has to be reported, air permits etc, yet explosives go un-noticed.

Someone once told me that the old munitions are more dangerous than new, something about corrosion.

There was that thing about TNT/Dynamite sweating.
I bet that's the glycerin starting to separate.
Alot of the newer explosives I hear will only explode if the is enough concussive force, either wise they just burn.

 

[halfmoa]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

I can't believe everyone but me and Bubbs are so ho hum about 6,000,000lbs of improperly stored explosives but if you should install a floor without epoxy or foam underneath it you're liable to be crucified on here...:tape2:

Looks fine. I'm sure lightning wouldn't be an issue. Or vandals. Or a dog carrying home a chunk. No big deal.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

but if you should install a floor without epoxy or foam underneath it you're liable to be crucified on here...:tape2:

You forgot installing pressure treated wood in an aluminum boat.:laugh:

 

[nwcove]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

I can't believe everyone but me and Bubbs are so ho hum about 6,000,000lbs of improperly stored explosives but if you should install a floor without epoxy or foam underneath it you're liable to be crucified on here...:tape2:

Looks fine. I'm sure lightning wouldn't be an issue. Or vandals. Or a dog carrying home a chunk. No big deal.

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with all do respect, more than one post here see's that there is a possible issue with the storage of these explosives. who knows for sure if an issue actually exists? but finding out the hard way ,isnt the right way.....it needs to be looked at.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Really it all comes down to what type of explosives it really is, based on what I am seeing much of it is stored in cardboard boxes which will allow water penetration which will neutralize many types of explosives.

Munitions was one of the things I was well trained in, while serving and it takes a specific set of circumstances to make most forms of explosives really dangerous, without more information, I would be hard pressed to raise the alarms..

Heck for years we used the old C4 as fire starter, it was issued to us for that specific purpose!