Let me rephrase, the question: Putting legalities aside, were their actions conscientious and in accordance with the ethics of the health physics profession, given the contemporary state of knowledge?
True, RCRA wasn't in effect, then, and they were probably exempted from AEC/NRC licensing requirements. (That was one of the biggest legislative screw-ups in recent history - trusting the government to regulate itself! We're now paying the price with the big $$$ cleanups of DOE sites.)
However, I still have trouble understanding how they could have thought it was acceptable, especially releasing the land for unrestricted use with the material buried there.
And then, putting those legalities aside, when RCRA and CERCLA took effect, they should have come forward with information on those potential superfund sites.
You asked, "What is the activity of the buried material?" The problem is that we don't know, and it's going to be a major task to find out.
BTW, am I a "knave" or a "fool"?
The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.
Curies forever.
Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com
RuthWeiner@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 6/5/03 5:33:19 AM Mountain Daylight Time, liptonw@dteenergy.com writes:
So what you're saying is that it's ok to bury radioactive and hazardous waste without any environmental assessment and without any records, and to then sell the land to an unsuspecting buyer without disclosing this; so long as there's no specific regulation saying you can't. When the material is discovered, no problem, just tell them that, "... maybe there IS actually no health threat." Did I overlook something?No. That is not what I said. To repeat:
There was no legislation regarding disposal of hazardous material, or the environmental impact of such disposition, before 1970. I meant, of course, that such legislation and/or regulation could hardly have been anticipated in 1950.
I also said, perhaps the buried material does not pose a threat.
"The dose makes the poison." What is the activity of the buried material? If it is relatively low activity, and low specific activity, well then, maybe there is no health threat (or a negligible threat).
"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools..." Rudyard Kipling, in "If"Ruth
Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.
ruthweiner@aol.com