[CPEO-MEF] So far, so good in Pease radioactive site search

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New Hampshire
PORTSMOUTH HERALD
So far, so good in Pease radioactive site search
By Larissa Mulkern, lmulkern@seacoastonline.com
November 16, 2003

NEWINGTON - Tucked past the new office buildings at Pease International
Tradeport to the west lies a 1,089-acre green jewel vaguely shaped like
Ireland.

The Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge, owned and operated by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, is a stopover for numerous species of
migratory birds and a roosting place for bald eagles. A thriving deer
population finds a safe haven from tractor-trailer trucks and
civilization for all but one weekend a year - this weekend in fact -
when a hunt is allowed, according to Refuge Manager Jimmie Reynolds.

On the 3.5-mile approach to the refuge at the end of Arboretum Drive,
trees thicken, then thin out again, at the parking lot.

Then, whammo, a razor-wire surprise with a large sign: "Former Weapons
Storage Area."

It's an in-your-face reminder that this land, indeed, was once Pease Air
Force Base. High chain-linked fences ringed with razor-wire contain a
70-acre site formerly used as a weapons storage and maintenance area -
including nuclear weapons.

This green jewel may be a haven for wildlife, but it's what lurks
beneath the surface that interests a team of scientists currently
testing soil for potential radioactive contamination.

At the testing site Thursday, researchers from Cabrera Services, a
radiological testing and remediation company based in Connecticut, and
the Air Force Institute of Operational Health used state-of-the-art
equipment to determine the slightest existence of radioactive waste.

Thus far, researchers have not detected signs of abnormal levels of
radioactivity, or evidence of underground waste burial sites.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/11162003/news/b.htm

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