[CPEO-MEF] November inspection slated for ex-Castle weapons site

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

California
MERCED SUN-STAR
November inspection slated for ex-Castle weapons site
By Stacey Wiebe
Wednesday, August 27, 2003

CASTLE - Air Force officials announced Tuesday night that a site
inspection of the region above Castle Air Force Base’s former weapons
storage area will take place in November, in light of the possibility
that radioactive waste remains buried in the storage facility.

The former weapons storage area lies buried beneath a portion of the
United States Penitentiary, Atwater, which houses more than 1,500
inmates.

Formerly classified information about the presence of possible waste
surfaced earlier this summer, when Air Force officials announced that
some form of radioactive waste might exist at about 80 bases around the
country.

Potential radioactive waste at Castle - in the form of uranium - would
more than likely be buried inside the former weapons storage area, said
Jody Wireman, a toxicologist with the Air Force Institute for
Operational Health.

Wireman addressed Castle’s Restoration Advisory Board, a committee of
community members, and Air Force and county officials, on Tuesday night.

Until new information surfaces about other possible burial sites,
Wireman said, investigators will stick to checking out the former
storage area.

“If we have any information to lead us in that direction, we’ll go in
that direction,” he said. “At this point, the waste generated during
nuclear weapons maintenance would be located in the weapons storage
area.”

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.mercedsun-star.com/news/newsview.asp?c=71777

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