[ RadSafe ] Chino Airport to clean radium contamination

[Susan Gawarecki]

Chino Airport to clean radium contamination
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2812918,00.html#
By Megan Blaney, Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - CHINO -- One man's hobby to collect vintage 
airplanes will cost San Bernardino County nearly $200,000 to clean up 
radioactive material - at least temporarily.

The county will seek reimbursement after cleaning up the radium-226 
contamination at Chino Airport, where Jeff Pearson, owner of 
Preservation Aviation, Inc., stores vintage airplanes containing the 
material. The radioactive material was used on the predominantly 
American military aircraft to illuminate instrument dials. The aircrafts 
date mostly from World War II through the 1960s.

"In both hangars, there is a quantity of old aviation instruments that 
have the radium painted on the dial," San Bernardino County Director of 
Airports Bill Ingraham said Monday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined the radioactive 
materials exceed the radiation limit and closed off the area March 10, 
deeming it unsafe for entry, Ingraham said.

Twelve tenants of nearby hangars are still not allowed into the building 
and cannot access their aircraft, airport Manager James Jenkins said 
Tuesday. Their aircraft is not contaminated, but the area is, he said.

The county hired New World Environmental Inc. for $110,597 to clean up 
the site and will pay an additional $85,000 to dispose of the 
radioactive material in certified landfills. The Board of Supervisors on 
Tuesday approved the funding, which comes from the Airports Capital 
Improvement Fund.

"Since the county is owner of one building, and we own the land for the 
other building, we are ultimately responsible," Ingraham said.

The county intends to recover the cleanup cost from the tenant, Ingraham 
said.

The EPA's investigation of the Chino hangar stemmed from an 
investigation into a warehouse in North Hollywood where the same company 
was ordered to cease operations because of radioactive contamination 
from the same source.

The FBI served the search warrant to investigate the hangars on behalf 
of the EPA. New World Environmental Inc. is expected to start cleanup today.

EPA Onscene Coordinator Robert Wise said he could not comment on the 
contamination as it was an ongoing investigation.

Pearson could not be reached for comment.