It ’s been a few year since developers lead off constructing an$8 billion neighborhoodon the web site of the former San Francisco Shipyard , and residents are still complaining about possible exposure to hazardous textile .
On September 11th , officials reveal a radioactive object less than a foot below the site ’s condo , which cost up to $ 1.5 million . " It ’s literally mind - boggling — it is less than 50 yards away from where I live , " one shipyard residenttoldthe San Francisco Chronicle .
The finding is n’t on the dot shocking , given the land ’s history : From 1948 to 1969 , it was home to a top - hugger-mugger nuclear examination facility operate by the US Navy , which examined ships and military equipment let out to atomic - bomb plosion .
In 2002 , a 75 - acre swathe of land was view as costless of radioactive contamination following a multimillion - dollar mark cleanup spot crusade and inspections from the Environmental Protection Agency . A decade later , former employees of Tetra Tech , the contractor hired by the Navy to clean up the web site , admitted to falsifying soil tests in other area of the shipyard .
While the Navy insisted that residents were " 100 % safe , " it has agreed to retest all areas that were previously inspected by Tetra Tech . In May , the environmental engineer for San Francisco ’s health department , Amy Brownell , tell there wasabsolutely no riskto public guard or health .
That was before the uncovering of the radium deck marking — an object that served as emergency lighting on the decks of aircraft newsboy during World War II . The mark ’s glow - in - the moody pigment consists of a radioactive meaning that could chair to bone cancer . With a half - spirit of 1,600 years , the substance will still be toxic for years to get .
Prior to the discovery , workers hadflagged the areaas have above - average background levels of radioactive contaminant . But official have been flying to downplay the finding . The Navy called it " an anomalous reading , " while the EPA insisted that the objective stick no harm to resident or workers . These sentiment were recall by various city health official , who highlighted the fact the no other contaminant were found at the situation .
But the discovery has environmentalists up in arms . " It ’s a nightmare scenario , " Bradley Angel , the executive director of the guard dog mathematical group Greenaction , toldthe Chronicle .
That nightmare could poke out to other cities as well . In their new bookSites Unseen , sociologistsScott FrickelandJames Elliottreveal that hundred of zillion of pound of hazardous wastefulness , left behind by both little and prominent manufacturing facilities , are bury underneath American cities .
harmonise to the authors , site thatreceive the most attentionfrom the EPA are " enceinte facilities [ like the San Francisco Shipyard ] that have been in place for decades . " Meanwhile , smaller neighborhoods have rifle unnoticed , creating a hidden bequest of hazardous material break up across the nation .
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