Within that area, the risk of lung cancer would be about 25 percent higher than normal, according to consultants of the Department of Energy.ĭecontamination of the park and nearly 100 adjacent private properties has been held up while Government agencies finish reviewing standards for the cleanup laid down by the Environmental Protection Agency.Īngered by the delay, about 100 residents have filed class-action lawsuits against the state and Federal governments, six government agencies and seven corporations. Up to a third of a mile from the site, the emissions range from two to three times normal levels. The Federal Department of Energy found ''higher-than-acceptable'' radioactive emissions from radon gas and radium at the site in 1977. The industrial park is among 24 sites identified under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 as requiring prompt cleanup. The Atomic Energy Commission later used the property for storage. Later the site was taken over by the Vitro Corporation of America, which processed uranium and radium, burying its waste there. The Standard Chemical Company extracted radium from ore at the site in 1911. ''When you didn't know, you weren't afraid,'' said Sophie Winseck, who unwittingly used an old vat from the processing plant to catch rainwater in her backyard.
0 kommentar(er)
