OMINOUS EVIDENCE

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

This article was just brought to my attention, although it's now
month-old news.  I thought RadSafe list members might be interested.

--Susan Gawarecki

OMINOUS EVIDENCE 

ENVIRONMENT: The apparent discovery of a radioactive gauge at El Toro
puts pressure on cleanup officials. 

September 15, 1999

By PAT BRENNAN
The Orange County Register 

The first physical evidence that the Navy might have dumped radioactive
material into at least one landfill on the El Toro Marine Base has been
brought forward by a local chemist.

The find could increase pressure on the military to thoroughly
investigate landfills on the now-closed base for radioactive
contamination.

The evidence — a rusty instrument gauge — showed a strong radioactive
response in a test by a health physicist Friday at California State
University, Fullerton.

Chemist Chuck Bennett, a member of a federally mandated citizens panel
that is keeping close track of environmental cleanup at the base, said
he picked up the gauge on the surface of an old landfill in an area of
the northeast corner of the base that is to become a wildlife reserve.

The Orange County Register reported in July that ground water flowing
from beneath the reserve site was radioactive.

"The Navy has said all along that there might be radioactive waste,"
Bennett said. "Now that we know for sure, it's no longer a question of,
'Is there a problem.' It's now, 'How bad is it?' "

Navy spokesman Lee Saunders said the Navy has received no official word
on Bennett's find, including notice from Bennett himself, so it could
take no action.

Saunders also questioned the authenticity of the find, and said that if
Bennett did take a gauge from the site, which is fenced and locked, he
had done so improperly. The base closed July 1.

"Anything out there would be U.S. government property," he said. "It
shouldn't have been taken from the base."

The gauge, about the size of a tuna can, does not emit enough radiation
to pose a health hazard, said Sue Fisher, a health physicist and
radiation-safety officer at Cal State Fullerton.

She said the gauge is probably contaminated by radium 226, the same
element painted on instrument dials in the 1940s, '50s and '60s at the
El Toro base.

Navy officials have said items from the paint room, and pieces of the
radium-painting building that was later torn down, might have been
dumped in one or more base landfills. But they have been unable to
locate any records from that time, despite requests from the citizens
panel and the news media. 

Cleanup officials working for the Navy also have said they would conduct
a more thorough study of the landfills for signs of radioactive
contamination. But they have not released any details of how the study
will be done, or whether it would include a search for radium 226.

The Navy's Saunders said a draft plan for the study will be prepared by
November and, if approved by regulators, could be performed in spring
2000.

Both the apparent age and the style of the gauge indicate it came from
the radium-painting period, Bennett said. The numbers and any visible
paint have long since worn away, but an indicator needle is still
attached to the now-blank face of the gauge.

The dumping of such material into landfills in past decades is neither
surprising nor uncommon. Before sophisticated health studies showed the
dangers of radioactive material, radium was frequently used both inside
and outside the military.

Everything from watches to aircraft panels could be made to glow in the
dark with radium 226. Such dials, far more reliable than those lit by
electricity, were especially useful in combat situations.

What is of great concern to Bennett and other members of the Restoration
Advisory Board, a panel mandated by the federal government to ensure
public participation, is how the Navy is handling cleanup of potentially
contaminated sites.

Bennett, a member of the board for three years, said the Navy has
consistently shown reluctance to thoroughly investigate the landfills
for radioactive material and other contaminants.

Saunders, however, countered that the Navy has been open and forthcoming
with the public, including holding regular public meetings.

"This is the most open process, ever, for dealing with environmental
cleanup in the history of the Department of Defense," he said.

The Navy submitted a report in May detailing evidence of radioactive
contamination on the base after the report was requested by state
regulators. The regulators are now awaiting the draft plan for the next
radiation study.

Bennett also wants to ensure that the Navy test specifically for radium
226, and that the tests are conducted below the surface — even if that
means excavating the site. Cal State Fullerton scientist Fisher said
many low-level radioactive emissions can be blocked by about a foot of
soil.

Previous tests by the Navy showed radioactive emissions from ground
water on some base sites, but the tests were not specific enough to
determine exactly what element was producing the radiation.

Bennett said he and others found the gauge in July while visiting a
nearby archery range on the El Toro base. Saying his previous criticisms
of the base cleanup could make some skeptical of the genuineness of his
find, he said he has never let the gauge out of his sight and can
produce witnesses who were present when the gauge was found.

Deirdre Dement, a health physicist at the state Department of Health
Services and one of the officials overseeing the El Toro cleanup, said
that if the find is genuine it could prompt a more thorough search for
other radioactive contaminants on the base.

"If they've found something on top of the ground, I definitely think
there's a need for further surveys — or something," Dement said.

She did not, however, advocate excavation, fearing that disturbing the
landfill waste could in itself present a hazard. Instead, she would
prefer to develop an estimate of the amount of radioactive contamination
and, based on that, impose restrictions on future use of the site.
-- 
==================================================
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
136 South Illinois Avenue, Suite 208
Oak Ridge, Tennessee  37830
Phone (423) 483-1333; Fax (423) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net
VISIT OUR UPDATED WEB SITE:  http://www.local-oversight.org
==================================================
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html