[CPEO-MEF] Radiation: "Dispute Over Radium-226 Cleanup Hinders Progress at Closed Navy Bases"

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Dispute Over Radium-226 Cleanup Hinders Progress at Closed Navy Bases
Recent state guidelines for remedial cleanup of radium-226 at closed U.S. Navy bases have affected the completion of work at Alameda Point and other bases across California


by Richard Bangert 
Alameda Post (CA)
February 16, 2026

Since 2019, the Navy has not been able to determine the cleanup goal for radium-226 to allow for unrestricted use of facilities. Repeated attempts by the Navy to get an answer suggest that the new California Department of Public Health [2] (CDPH) standard is based upon the location of the site rather than the risk to human health. CDPH is a sister agency that provides the California Department of Toxic Substances Control [3] (DTSC) with expertise on radiological cleanup issues.

In order to achieve satisfactory cleanup, CDPH has changed how it determines the goal for the allowed safe amount of radium in building structures, saying it should be comparable to the amount naturally found in nearby soil, according to a February 2025 letter [4] to DTSC from now-retired Gregory C. Preston, former Director of the Navy’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Program [5]. This has led to “inconsistent application of cleanup criteria,” resulting in “property transfer delays and unnecessary costs,” according to Preston.

Radium is a naturally occurring element found in soil that varies in amount from place to place depending on underlying geology and historic erosion of rocks. The soil at Alameda Point consists mainly of sand and silt dredged from the Bay to construct the Navy base. Having a cleanup goal pegged to soil at Alameda Point would mean a goal artificially more stringent than the established and agreed upon CERCLA Remedial Goal, according to Preston.

…

For the entire article, see
https://alamedapost.com/news/analysis/dispute-over-radium-226-cleanup-hinders-progress-closed-navy-bases/print/

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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