Historical Hazardous Air Pollutant HAP Emissions From SSFL

1
Historical Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP)
Emissions From SSFL
Lyle Chinkin Sonoma Technology, Inc. Petaluma, CA
Presented at Grand Vista Hotel Simi Valley, CA
August 19, 2003
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SSFL Overview

• SSFL was established after World War II. It has
  been used to test engines for missiles,
  spacecraft and rockets.
• As a consequence of test activities, hazardous
  air pollutants were released into the
  atmosphere.

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Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)

• EPA lists 188 pollutants or chemical groups as
  HAPs, commonly referred to as air toxics.
• They cause or suspected of causing cancer or
  other serious human health effects.
• They can be emitted from literally thousands of
  sources
• electric power utilities or industrial
  manufacturers
• neighborhood dry cleaners or service stations
• automobiles or airplanes
• Also need to consider radioactive releases

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Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)

• HAPs result from activities associated with
• individual facilities
• urban settings
• distant sources transported through the
  atmosphere over regional, national or even global
  airsheds
• Radioactive releases from nuclear activities

Individual Facility
Urban Setting
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Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)

• In addition to breathing HAPS, people can be
  exposed through
• skin absorption
• ingestion of contaminated food (e.g., fish)
• drinking and cooking with polluted water

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Five Sources of SSFL HAPs

• Rocket engine exhaust
• TCE as a cleaning and degreasing agent of rocket
  engines
• Other evaporative sources (e.g. stripping towers)
• Open pit burning
• Radioactive releases

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Estimation of HAP Emissions

• Contacted Boeing and other entities to obtain
  historical data and documents
• Visits to SSFL
• Analysis of data and documents led to
  identification of air emission estimates for 16
  HAPs
• Not always sufficient information available to
  directly characterize emissions so
  assumptions were needed

non-radioactive emission test data for
hydrazine fuel rockets measured concentration but
no flow rate
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Hazardous Air Pollutants included in study

• Organics Heavy Metals
• Benzene Arsenic
• 1,3-butadiene Beryllium
• Hydrazine Cadmium
• Toluene Chromium
• TCA - Methyl chloroform Lead
• TCE Manganese
• Xylene Mercury
• Nickel
• Selenium

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Activity at SSFL Over Time
- Not always operating effectively
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Activity at SSFL Over Time
Although no permits for two evaporative
stripping towers and TTF operated in violation of
permit, HAP emissions related to these issues are
estimated to be small relative to historical
operations
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Activity at SSFL Over Time

• The vast majority (88) of rocket exhaust
  occurred from 1955 to 1965
• TCE engine cleaning activity pattern similar to
  rocket exhaust
• Open pit burning activity assumed uniform from
  1955-1990

while open pit burning activity continued past
1990, emissions estimated as small
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HAP Emissions

• Annual average (1955-2000) SSFL emissions as of
  1990-93 Los Angeles Ventura County HAP emissions

1) benzene 2) 1,3-butadiene 3) methyl
chloroform 4) hydrazine 5) toluene 6) TCE 7)
xylene 8) arsenic 9) beryllium 10) cadmium 11)
chromium 12) lead 13) manganese 14) mercury 15)
nickel 16) selenium
ND
ND
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Summary

• Fuel Consumption from 1955 to present has been
  70 million gallons about 50 kerosene
• Organic solvent (TCE) usage to clean rocket
  engine parts exceeds 1 million gallons the
  largest source of HAP air emissions
• Evaporative sources the second largest HAP air
  emission source
• Open pit burning from 1959-1960 averaged 1,900
  gallons (primarily fuel), 130 pounds and 5
  cylinders per month
• Radioactive emissions (see UCLA report)