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.
