[CPEO-MEF] RADIATION: Fernald "Preserve" (OH)

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Toxic legacy of the Cold War
Ohio's Fernald Preserve has flowers, birds and tons of radioactive 
waste. Sites that once supplied the nation's nuclear arsenal now pose a 
staggering political, environmental and economic challenge.

By Ralph Vartabedian
Los Angeles Times
October 20, 2009

Amid the family farms and rolling terrain of southern Ohio, one hill 
stands out for its precise geometry.

The 65-foot-high mound stretching more than half a mile dominates a 
tract of northern hardwoods, prairie grasses and swampy ponds, known as 
the Fernald Preserve.

Contrary to appearances, there is nothing natural here. The high ground 
is filled with radioactive debris, scooped from the soil around a former 
uranium foundry that produced crucial parts for the nation's nuclear 
weapons program.

A $4.4-billion cleanup transformed Fernald from a dangerously 
contaminated factory complex into an environmental showcase. But it is 
"clean" only by the terms of a legal agreement. Its soils contain many 
times the natural amounts of radioactivity, and a plume of tainted water 
extends underground about a mile.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-radiation-fernald20-2009oct20,0,2659447.story

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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