Press Release: Another Pu at Livermore Item

[Mike Grissom <mikeg@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

Radsafers,

This item was in last Friday's San Francisco Chronicle
(2/27/97), and can be viewed on the Web at URL:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/02/27
/MN75793.DTL

----------

              Neighbors Alarmed Over Plutonium
                  Traces at Livermore Park
           But scientists say levels not harmful
          Patricia Jacobus, Chronicle Staff Writer

                  Friday, February 27, 1998

At the Livermore rodeo parade a couple of years ago, Carrie
Buczeke went cold when she saw a large float pass by her. It
read: ``Plutonium at Big Trees Park.''

Buczeke, her husband and two daughters live less than a half-mile
from the park, which is next to an elementary school.

In 1995, plutonium was detected at the park, which is now
undergoing more scrutiny as part of a state and federal health
assessment. Lawrence Livermore Laboratory scientists say the
public need not worry because radiation levels are so low as to
be inconsequential.

But those assurances have not quelled public fears.  At a
meeting Wednesday night, about 90 residents aired their
frustrations about the findings.

Buczeke said she won't let her 5-year-old daughter, Kimberlae,
play in the park or attend nearby Arroyo Seco Elementary School.

``I can't in my right mind allow it,'' she said, her voice
punctuated with anger. ``What do I do if she's 25 and has some
horrendous disease? What do I say, `Sorry honey, they said it
was safe?' ''

Plutonium is a toxic radioactive element that has been used at
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory for research in the development
of nuclear weapons and for scientific purposes.

The plutonium in the park may have come from an incident in
1967 when a small amount accidentally leaked out of the lab
and into the city's sewer system.

Before lab scientists could detect the release, Livermore Parks
and Recreation workers sold the sewer sludge to Tri-Valley
residents as a soil conditioner for gardens and lawns.

It is possible, lab officials say, that some of that soil
was used on the 4.2-acre Big Trees Park and two other city
parks.

All three sites were tested for three radioactive elements in
1994. At two parks, the radiation levels were found to be
normal, but the plutonium concentration at Big Trees Park was
five times higher than the background level, the amount of
radiation naturally occurring in the environment. A year later,
the Environmental Protection Agency again tested Big Trees Park
and found enough plutonium to raise concerns, but ultimately
concluded that the amount did not pose an ``unacceptable
risk.''

However, the state Department of Health Services has recommended
that more extensive studies be done. The department along with
the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
are conducting the first public health assessment of the lab and
its surroundings, including Big Trees Park. The lab, managed by
the University of California at Berkeley for the Department of
Energy, is being examined because it is a Superfund site.

Marilyn Underwood, a toxicologist leading the study, urged the
Livermore Water Reclamation Plant to find the log with names
and addresses of those who purchased the plutonium-laced soil
conditioner, so scientists could test their lawns and gardens.

Experts say that at extremely low levels, plutonium poses
minimal health risks to the public. However, many residents and
environmentalists at Wednesday night's meeting made it clear
that they believed there was no safe dose of the radioactive
element.

Scientists looked at a potential worst-case scenario of
radioactive exposure at the park to determine if plutonium
levels were harmful, said Dave Myers, a senior health physicist
at Lawrence Livermore Lab.

They found that if a toddler playing at the park dug holes in
the dirt, ate it, rolled in it and played on it for five days a
week, 50 weeks a year for several years, the child would be
exposed to one millirem of radiation. That would be less than
1/100th of the amount of radiation above background levels
considered acceptable by international standards.

``The public should not be concerned at all,'' said Myers, who
lives near the park and whose children have often played there.
He said his family members are healthy.

Another hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 11.

                  PLUTONIUM DETECTED

At Big Trees Park, scientists tested the top two inches of the
soil and detected traces of plutonium equal to less than one
millirem of radiation -- far less than what is considered
acceptable by international standards.

In 1990, the International Commission on Radiological Protection
recommended that 100 millirems per year is acceptable, not
including exposure to X-rays and to naturally occurring
radiation. By comparison, experts say that on a roundtrip flight
across the country, passengers are exposed to an estimated 5
millirems of radiation. A chest X-ray is 10 to 15 millirems.