Book Review - "Atomic Farmgirl" by Teri Hein

["Miller, Mark L" <mmiller@sandia.gov>]

The book just came out in 2000.  The title, Atomic Farmgirl", caught my eye.
If it weren't for the anecdotal mention of various cancers (potentially
attributable to past Hanford operations' release of radioactive materials)
the book probably wouldn't have been published.  The author grew up on a
farm near Fairfield, WA, about 100 "downwind" from Hanford.  She provides a
good description of a girl growing up on a farm in Eastern Washington, which
I found refreshing, having grown up on a farm in Western Nebraska myself.
However, she only weakly suggests that the apparent high incidence of cancer
in her community could be linked with Hanford effluents.  Her family is
involved in a lawsuit that has been filed against companies that had
government contracts at Hanford in the forties and fifties.  Perhaps the
Tooth Fairy Project will soon get involved here too!


Mark L. Miller, Certified Health Physicist
mmiller@sandia.gov
505-284-2107    fax 505-284-2616  cell  505-259-8557
MS-1088


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