Ancient Bones found in NIF pit

[marylia <marylia@igc.org>]

Ancient Bones Found in Mega-laser Pit

by Marylia Kelley
from Tri-Valley CAREs' January 1998 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Call the National Ignition Facility (NIF) a "mammoth waste."
Literally.

In September, a backhoe operator dug up an undocumented toxic
waste dump. On December 15, construction workers unearthed the
mammoth.

First to appear were the prehistoric beast's jawbone and skull,
estimated by paleontologists to be between 10,000 and 400,000
years old. "This is as good as it gets," said Mark Goodwin,
senior curator at the University of California Museum of
Paleontology at Berkeley. He emphasized the scientific
importance of the find, citing the completeness of the ancient
elephant's skull and the good condition of the bone.

One might be justified in thinking that a scientific
institution, such as Livermore Lab, would be overjoyed to be the
site of such a discovery. Not so.

It was science vs science at the NIF site, and the nuclear
weapons science promised by the mega-laser dominated the
discussion and decision-making. Bill Hogan, senior NIF
scientist, explained the Lab's position, "We will get as much as
we can until we reach a point where it will cause a significant
problem with the [construction] schedule." Paleontologist C.
Bruce Hanson was then given a one-week contract to get the
ancient bones out of the way of the NIF bulldozers.

Lab officials told reporters they had obtained a permit from the
Department of Interior covering the removal of the bones. When
we checked into the matter, that turned out to be not true. No
permit was issued or authorized according to Interior's Dr.
Roger Kelly, although excavation procedures were discussed with
the Lab.

With the clock ticking, and the holidays in full swing,
excavation of the bones proceeded hurriedly in the NIF pit. On
the cusp of the new year, Lab officials announced the find now
included an intact tusk five feet long and a three-foot
vertebrae. Subsequent reports listed three vertebrae and three
ribs as well as a second tusk in powdered condition. Altogether,
the NIF mammoth is believed to be the most complete ever
discovered in the Bay Area and perhaps in the state.

According to a brief report prepared for the Secretary of
Energy, removal of the bones has been completed. The fossils are
to be sent to the UC Museum of Paleontology. And, the report
says, the NIF, slated for completion in 2003, is still on
schedule.

It now comes to light that two months ago NIF crews had
discovered 3,000 to 10,000 year-old bone fragments from a bison,
though nothing was announced at the time. We wonder what they
will find next.