[CPEO-MEF] Radiation removed from Defense Depot in Hillcrest (NY)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Last of depot's radioactive ores removed

Tests for traces of contamination to follow

BY TOM WILBER
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin (NY)
August 16, 2005 

HILLCREST -- The last of low- level radioactive ores has been shipped
from a federal depot on Hoyt Avenue. Now contractors will check to see
whether it left behind any traces of contamination. 

The work, including an extensive review of records followed by sampling
in appropriate places, will take about a year to complete and cost about
$100,000, said Mike Pecullan, deputy manager of the Radiation Protection
Program for the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency, the depot operator. The
investigation is mandated as part of the depot's license with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission before the property can be turned over to
another owner. 

"We don't expect to find anything at all," Pecullan said. 

The ores, which are used to make tungsten, contain traces of uranium and
thorium. Like radon, they occur naturally in the ground, and they can
increase the risk of cancer in people exposed to them for long periods.
They were stored in sealed drums inside warehouse No. 8, near the south
end of the complex, Pecullan said. 

Bruce Oldfield, Hillcrest resident and member of a citizens advocacy
group, welcomed the news that the last barrel of ore was shipped out
earlier this summer. Ores present a special problem because they can
produce radioactive dust, said Oldfield, a geology professor at Broome
Community College. 

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.pressconnects.com/today/news/stories/ne081605s184672.shtml
 
-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 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
_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military