Navy Won't Investigate Nuclear Pollution At San Francisco's Treasure Island

Lasrick writes "The Center for Investigative Reporting spent a year investigating whether San Francisco's Treasure Island is contaminated with radioactive material left over from the decades the island was a naval base. Treasure Island is being transferred into civilian hands, and the city of San Francisco has plans to turn it into a 'second downtown.' Despite the fact that radioactive debris has been found around the island, the Navy refuses to conduct testing that might show whether radiation cleanup should be started before development begins, Independent testing by CIR and others has found high levels of cesium 137 and other radioactive substances at several spots on the island, and by examining unclassified military documents, CIR has found that the history of the nuclear work done at Treasure Island and the lack of safety protocols at the time mean the contamination is most likely wide-spread. Complaints by current residents has only resulted in bureaucratic infighting among state health departments and the Navy."

Comments

Caveat emptor x2

[i kan reed]

Let the buyer beware, and be extra wary when the seller is the one responsible for enforcing the safety of sellers.

Re:Caveat emptor x2

[sumdumass]

The navy isn't a public servant.

That aside, they probably do not want to risk their already shrinking budget getting stuck with the cleanup. Instead, once it changes hands to another government entity, congress will allocate money through the superfund process already in place to deal with stuff like this. Its a wash to the tax payers as it would only be an accounting gimmack.

Re:Is it going to be paved?

[NotDrWho]

Stop pointing out the facts!! The alarmism sells so much better, especially when it involves R A D I A T I O N ! !

Re:Is it going to be paved?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I agree that demolition, paving, and construction does not throw up any dust. They can just paint the whole thing red first. No biggie . .. no need to test anything.

You must always be giving out your brilliant ideas as random acts of kindness to humanity . . . or work for the NSA . . .

no numbers

[Anonymous Coward]

It is telling that this news article, published in "The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists" contained zero quantitative radiation or dose rate information within its several thousand words. Lots of "He Said" stories but no numbers. Did the authors of the article labor under the false assumption that their intended audience was numerically illiterate or do they have nothing but unsubstantiated anecdotes?

Re:Ooh Scary!

[compro01]

That line only applies to the cesium. The radium contamination is more relevant, as it means the building will have radon problems that will require dealing with.

Re:The Army actually built this island from scratc

[MrEricSir]

Except it was built for the World's Fair and intended to be re-purposed as an airport. The Navy base idea came later.

But hey, no reason to let facts get in the way of your knee-jerk response, right?