[CPEO-MEF] Glowing fish put tribes at risk along Columbia

[UTOSI-Hdqrs@kc.rr.com]

Glowing fish put tribes at risk along Columbia

Posted: March 23, 2002 - 7:00AM EST
by: Jennifer Hemmingsen / Correspondent / Indian Country Today

LAPWAI, Idaho -- A new study shows local Indians were exposed to more 
Hanford site radiation than previously thought, but tribal members 
aren't surprised.

For more than 40 years, the U. S. government produced weapons-grade 
plutonium at the Hanford Site in south central Washington State. During 
its operation, the facility released significant amounts of 11 different 
radioactive materials. From 1944 to 1957, most of these releases were 
into the air. From the 1950s and 1960s, radioactive substances were 
released into the Columbia River through water used by Hanford reactors.

The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction project was established to 
estimate what radiation dose people living near Hanford might have 
received from releases of radioactive materials. A recent reevaluation 
of the HEDR project by the Centers for Disease Control showed the study 
underestimated Native American fish consumption -- the primary means of 
radioactive material transmission.

Read the total story at:
http://www.indiancountry.com/?1016809746&style=printable

Jim Oyler