By Max Lindberg •
July 25, 2008
Putting an Old Dog to Rest…Hopefully
For years, there have been rumors, and concerns, about playground areas at the Grand Canyon School District, located inside the park, being contaminated with radioactive soil from old uranium mines in the area.
I talked with park Public Affairs Officer Maureen Oltrogge, and she said that an investigation is underway to determine if there is contaminated soil in the playground areas. Oltrogge said the park has no records of any company dumping radioactive dirt there, so they’ve contracted with a geotechnical engineering company to test the area and make a final decision. She said the test results should be in by the end of the year.
By Max Lindberg •
July 10, 2008
No Fishing Allowed and Drinking Well Water is Banned
In what was reported earlier as a minor situation, comes news that a uranium leak from one of France’s nuclear power plants has tainted well water and two rivers 30 miles from the tourist city of Avignon, which is currently hosting an arts festival.
According to published reports, the amount of untreated liquid uranium released amounted to 75kg, and was rated as a one on the one-to-seven scale of nuclear accidents. Interesting, just a one, and you can’t drink the water, cannot fish or swim in the two rivers.
The local government is said to have immediately banned the drinking of well water, told residents in Vaucluse not to fish, or eat fish caught from the rivers, ended all swimming and water sports and the irrigation of crops in nearby fields.
