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Re:



New Jersey does indeed have a Radiation Protection Program.  However, it

was not invited to participate in the federal efforts relating to the

M/V Palermo Senator.  The radiological investigations were conducted

solely by personnel from federal agencies.



The final press release from the FBI, Coast Guard and USDOE, issued

Friday evening, says in part:



"The Coast Guard initially boarded the 708-foot Liberian-flagged

container ship at sea 2 a.m. Tuesday morning and heard suspicious

sounds.  Believing a possible stowaway situation existed; the Coast

Guard ordered the ship to Port Newark for a more thorough inspection.



The ensuing shore-side inspection, conducted by federal , state and

local inspectors determined no stowaways were aboard, but detected cargo

with low levels of radiation.  As a precautionary measure, the Coast

Guard ordered the ship out of Port Newark Tuesday to a sposition 6-miles

off the New Jersey coast and established a security zone around the

ship.



Further assessment offshore by the investigation team of

representatives from the FBI, DOE and U.S. Coast Guard, determined the

radiation levels were normal and naturally occurring for containers of

ceramic tile."



Gerald Nicholls

 



>>> <tristan@blackhat.net> 09/13/02 06:47PM >>>

I'm not entirely sure that the Mothers for Peace and Coalition for

Peace

Justice and Butterflies would had much to do with the kneejerk reaction

of

calling in Special Forces and federal officials to handle low-energy

NORM

clay tiles.  I thought Jersey had a office of radiation control.  Ah

well.





>Here's another example of Mom Nature acting up again.

>Let's get the Mother's for Peace and the Coalition for Peace, Justice,

and

>Butterflies to immediately protest clay.

>

>

>

>Tiles suspected in ship radiation alert

>

>Clay from Spain believed responsible for elevated reading

>

>

>NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES

>

>Sept. 12 - Clay tiles from Spain are believed to be the source of

elevated

>radiation levels detected on a Liberian-flagged container ship that

has been

>detained off the coast of New Jersey for several days, defense

officials

>told NBC News on Friday.

>

>

> Clay tiles are known to emit low levels of radiation.

>

>         WHILE INDICATING that a final determination had not yet been

made,

>the officials, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity, said

it

>appeared to be attributable to 15 containers of the tiles, which are

known

>to emit low levels of radiation.

>       Special Operations forces dispatched to the M/V Palermo Senator

were

>redeploying, the officials said, but it was unclear if the vessel had

been

>cleared to return to port.

> The container ship M/V Palermo Senator, shown in a photo from the Web

site

>of the Hamburg, Germany, shipping company that owns the vessel.

>          Pentagon officials told NBC News on Thursday that the

vessel,

>which arrived in New York Harbor late Monday, was one of five searched

upon

>arrival based on intelligence indicating that terrorists may be trying

to

>bring nuclear material or a nuclear device into the United States.

>       After Coast Guard inspectors found unspecified "paperwork

problems"

>and reported hearing some suspicious sounds in some of the vessel's

cargo

>holds, it was ordered to Port Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New

Jersey

>for further checks.

>

>           There, tests by Energy Department inspectors produced

>contradictory results, with one showing elevated radiation levels and

>another indicating normal levels.

>       The ship was ordered back to sea Wednesday for a definitive

>determination on whether any radioactive material was on board.

>       It was then boarded by members of the Energy Department's

Nuclear

>Emergency Search Team and Special Operations forces with specialized

>equipment capable of examining the contents of the ship's 655

containers

>without opening them.

> Advertisement

>

>

>

>

>

>         The NEST squad was established in 1974 to seek out and

dismantle

>"improvised nuclear devices," but has been used over the years to

>investigate suspicious radiological sources.

>       The Palermo Senator is owned by the firm Reederei F. Laeisz of

>Hamburg, Germany, and regularly plies the route between New York and

the Far

>East.

>       Its last port of call was Valencia, Spain, but in the past

several

>weeks it stopped and picked up cargo in a number of ports, including

Bandar

>Abbas, Iran; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Karachi, Pakistan.

>

>       MSNBC.com's Mike Brunker; NBC's Tammy Kupperman, Jim

Miklaszewski and

>Robert Windrem; and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

>

>Mark O. Somerville

>Certified Health Physicist

>Registered Environmental Assessor

>Diablo Canyon Power Plant

>(805) 545-4007

>mailto: mos3@pge.com 

>

>

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