SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns should prepare to hear explosions through September as old military explosives are disposed of in Tooele County.
On Monday, officials from Hill Air Force Base announced they’ve begun the base’s season of large detonation operations at the Utah Test and Training Range.
According to HAFB, up to two explosives detonations are planned every week until September. Base officials are disposing over 10,000 pounds of net explosive weight from old or obsolete Department of Defense rocket motors.
Last September, loud booms from the Tooele Army Depot were heard from Farmington to Draper, confusing several residents who lived nearly 80 miles away. A Utah sound engineer told KSL TV that temperature and wind speed were factors in the booms’ travel.
HAFB personnel said the base hopes to keep the booms from traveling too far by taking readings and placing them into a sound prediction model. If the model predicts the booms will be louder than permitted levels, then the explosives detonations will be delayed.
“Atmospheric conditions can change rapidly between the time we take a reading and the actual detonation,” said Amanda Burton, the 75th Civil Engineer Group’s Environmental Branch Chief. “This current model we’re using is a very reliable tool in determining how far sound from a detonation will travel from the UTTR.”
However, the model is not 100% accurate, so residents could still hear random booms in Davis and Salt Lake counties.
An “environmentally friendly” explosives detonation
Burton said this method of detonation is environmentally friendly and the best way to dispose of large rocket motors.
HAFB said every week, up to two detonations are planned until September.
According to HAFB, since 2012, over 300 motors have been destroyed at the Utah Test and Training Range. The range is the only location in the U.S. that permits these kinds of detonations.
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