Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
Too bad Anne White is no longer in charge.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investig...y-radioactive-dust-into-air-above-la/2730578/
Explosion Sends Potentially Radioactive Dust Into Air Above LA
People living near the Santa Susana Field Lab worry a recent explosion could've caused a similar migration of radioactive dust to neighborhoods.
By Joel Grover • Published November 11, 2021
What to Know
The explosion sent clouds of dust into the sky near residential neighborhoods of what some experts say were radioactive materials.
"I was absolutely flabbergasted," Dan Hirsch told the NBC Los Angeles I-Team.
Hirsch, the former director of the Program on Environmental and Nuclear Policy at UC Santa Cruz, added, "I was concerned that that radioactive cloud would migrate to where people are."
And that's happened before. Last month, the I-Team first reported on a peer-reviewed study which found radioactive dust and ash from Santa Susana -- generated by the 2018 Woolsey Fire -- migrated as far as nine miles away to cities like Thousand Oaks.
...
"Not the method that I would have chosen," said Anne White, an Assistant U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Trump, who was in charge of contaminated sites like Santa Susana.
White told the I-Team that the government often dismantles contaminated buildings piece by piece, using heavy equipment and spraying the area with water to control dust.
"You pull it apart like you would with any other type of building that you’re demolishing. You use a lot of water… a lot of dust suppression," White told NBC4.
The U.S. Department of Energy denied NBC4's request to interview someone in the agency about the Santa Susana demolition.
In an emailed statement, the Energy Department said it "used demolition techniques that reduced dust generation… and minimized any contamination that could have become airborne."
But after viewing video of the Santa Susana demolition, former Assistant Energy Secretary Anne White told NBC4, "I did not see any dust suppression mechanisms being used, no."
The Energy Department also told the I-Team its recent demolition using explosives was of "non-radiological facilities."
But US EPA documents reviewed by the I-Team show the agency categorized the demolished building as "Class 1," meaning it has the highest possibility of radioactive contamination.
"There was absolutely no rationale for blowing it up. You would then be tossing that potentially radioactive material into the air, said Hirsch....
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investig...y-radioactive-dust-into-air-above-la/2730578/
Explosion Sends Potentially Radioactive Dust Into Air Above LA
People living near the Santa Susana Field Lab worry a recent explosion could've caused a similar migration of radioactive dust to neighborhoods.
By Joel Grover • Published November 11, 2021
What to Know
- A building was demolished using explosives by the U.S. Department of Energy last month at the highly contaminated Santa Susana Field Lab.
- The site is a former nuclear and rocket test facility in the hills above LA.
- The building was part of a complex used to develop nuclear reactors.
The explosion sent clouds of dust into the sky near residential neighborhoods of what some experts say were radioactive materials.
"I was absolutely flabbergasted," Dan Hirsch told the NBC Los Angeles I-Team.
Hirsch, the former director of the Program on Environmental and Nuclear Policy at UC Santa Cruz, added, "I was concerned that that radioactive cloud would migrate to where people are."
And that's happened before. Last month, the I-Team first reported on a peer-reviewed study which found radioactive dust and ash from Santa Susana -- generated by the 2018 Woolsey Fire -- migrated as far as nine miles away to cities like Thousand Oaks.
...
"Not the method that I would have chosen," said Anne White, an Assistant U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Trump, who was in charge of contaminated sites like Santa Susana.
White told the I-Team that the government often dismantles contaminated buildings piece by piece, using heavy equipment and spraying the area with water to control dust.
"You pull it apart like you would with any other type of building that you’re demolishing. You use a lot of water… a lot of dust suppression," White told NBC4.
The U.S. Department of Energy denied NBC4's request to interview someone in the agency about the Santa Susana demolition.
In an emailed statement, the Energy Department said it "used demolition techniques that reduced dust generation… and minimized any contamination that could have become airborne."
But after viewing video of the Santa Susana demolition, former Assistant Energy Secretary Anne White told NBC4, "I did not see any dust suppression mechanisms being used, no."
The Energy Department also told the I-Team its recent demolition using explosives was of "non-radiological facilities."
But US EPA documents reviewed by the I-Team show the agency categorized the demolished building as "Class 1," meaning it has the highest possibility of radioactive contamination.
"There was absolutely no rationale for blowing it up. You would then be tossing that potentially radioactive material into the air, said Hirsch....
