Environmental Assessment for The Proposed Construction and

1,01

MB

Operation of a Biosafety Level 3 Facility at Lawrence Livermore

79

stron

National Laboratory, Livermore, California

6043

ID

U.S. Department of Energy

2002

rok

Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ii

ACRONMYNS AND ABBREVIATIONS vii

1.0 PURPOSE AND NEED.1

1.1 INTRODUCTION .1

1.2 BACKGROUND2

1.3 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR AGENCY ACTION.7

1.4 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT7

1.5 COMMENT SUMMARIES AND NNSA RESPONSES 8

2.0 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES .8

2.1 PROPOSED ACTION TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE A BSL-3 FACILITY AT LLNL.8

2.1.1 Proposed BSL-3 Facility Location and Construction Measures9

2.1.2 BSL-3 Facility Description and Operations.12

2.1.3 BSL-3 Facility Decontamination and Decommissioning .26

2.2 ALTERNATIVE ACTION TO REMODEL/UPGRADE A SINGLE-ROOM LABORATORY IN

BUILDING B-365 TO BSL-3 26

2.3 ALTERNATIVE ACTION TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE AN ON-SITE CONSTRUCTED BSL-3

FACILITY.27

2.4 NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE27

2.5 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED BUT ELIMINATED FROM FURTHER ANALYSIS .27

2.5.1 Construction and Operation of the Proposed BSL-3 Facility at Another Mainsite LLNL Location

.27

2.5.2 Construction and Operation of the Proposed BSL-3 Facility at Site 300 28

2.5.3 Construction and Operation of the BSL-3 Facility at Another National Security Laboratory .28

2.6 RELATED ACTIONS .28

3.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT29

3.1 REGIONAL AND LOCAL SETTING.29

3.1.1 Climate and Meteorology 29

3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES NOT AFFECTED.31

3.3 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES POTENTIALLY AFFECTED32

3.3.1 Ecological Resources.33

3.3.2 Human Health 33

3.3.3 Air Quality .33

3.3.4 Noise 35

3.3.5 Waste Management36

3.3.6 Geology/Soils/Seismology.36

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES.38

4.1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROPOSED ACTION.38

4.1.1 Ecological Resources.38

4.1.2 Human Health 39

4.1.3 Air Quality .45

4.1.4 Noise 46

4.1.5 Waste Management47

4.1.6 Geology/Soils/Seismology.47

4.2 ANALYSIS OF ABNORMAL EVENTS AND ACCIDENT SCENARIOS48

4.2.1 Site Preparation and Construction .48

4.2.2 Operation48

4.3 REMODEL/UPGRADE ALTERNATIVE55

4.4 CONSTRUCT ON-SITE ALTERNATIVE 55

4.5 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE.55

5.0 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS.56

6.0 AGENCIES AND PERSONS CONSULTED57

7.0 REFERENCES.58

APPENDICES

A CDC GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION ON MICROORGANISMS A-1

A.1 CDC BIOSAFETY LEVEL CRITERIA A-2

A.2 CDC FACILITY REGISTRATION FOR TRANSFER OR RECEIPT OF SELECT AGENTS. A-16

A.3 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON UNDERSTANDING INFECTIOUS MICROORGANISMS

AND THE LLNL PROPOSED ACTION MICROORGANISMS A-20

B ABNORMAL EVENTS INFORMATION. B-1

B.1 POTENTIAL RISK TO WORKER -- LABORATORY-ACQUIRED INFECTION . B-2

B.2 POTENTIAL RISK TO NON-WORKERS FROM CONTACT WITH BIOSAFETY LABORATORY

WORKERS . B-6

B.3 ACCIDENTS B-7

C PUBLIC COMMENTS C-1

C.1 RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS LETTERS/EMAIL MESSAGES. C-1

C.2 PUBLIC COMMENT LETTERS/EMAIL MESSAGES. C-17