Could any public health impact result from past pentaborane stockpile destruction activities?
Pentaborane was manufactured in the late 1950s and 1960s as an experimental rocket propellant under an Air Force research program. From the 1950s until the 1990s, over 400 cylinders containing pentaborane, a highly toxic rocket fuel, were stored in a liquid propellant storage complex at Operable Unit 9. Because continued storage of pentaborane could result in an uncontrolled release, EAFB determined that public safety was best protected with controlled disposal of the fuel. Open burning was selected as the best method for pentaborane cylinder destruction (AFFTC 1998b; AFCEE/EMD 1997). As a result, approximately 209,582 pounds (412 cylinders) of pentaborane were destroyed at EAFB between 1994 and 1999. All open burns were conducted in OU 9 approximately 5 miles from the EAFB property line (AFFTC/EMR 2002g). Before the burning, EAFB conducted air dispersion modeling to predict pentaborane concentrations during destruction. A risk assessment was performed that set the allowable limit for
