[CPEO-IRF] Alameda (CA) radiation

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Radioactive Waste at Base

Marc E. Albert
Alameda Sun (CA)
September 28, 2007


Radioactive contamination at the former Naval Air Station Alameda is so 
extensive that some areas remain off limits and parts of the sewage 
system might be contaminated with radioactive material, according to a 
U.S. Navy report. Most of the affected sewers empty directly into 
Seaplane Lagoon and the San Francisco Bay.

"I've heard people refer to Seaplane Lagoon as the Navy's toilet," said 
Alameda Mayor Beverly Johnson. "I remember when the base first closed, 
there used to be a pier out there in the Seaplane Lagoon and I'd see 
people fishing off of it ... it's scary," Johnson said. Two-thirds of 
sediment samples collected from Bay mud in Seaplane Lagoon showed radium 
contamination. One sample was recorded at seven times the normal level, 
according to the Navy's report.

The report covers use of radioactive materials at the former base from 
1941 to 2005. According to the report, radioactive elements including: 
cesium-137, plutonium-239, promethium-147, radium-226, strontium-90, 
thorium-232, uranium-235, depleted uranium, cobolt-60, and krypton-85 
might have been used on the former base. The contamination could be long 
lasting; the half-life of the various elements range from 5.27 years for 
cobolt-60 to over 4.7 billion years for uranium-238. The Earth itself is 
4.5 billion years old by comparison.

...

For the entire article, see
http://alamedasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2097&Itemid=10

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



_______________________________________________
Installation_Reuse_Forum mailing list
Installation_Reuse_Forum@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/installation_reuse_forum