#illegal dumping

Yesterday, I went exploring abandoned fort ruins by this radioactive creek on a trail that is pretty popular.

This creek is infamous because of Mallinckrodt nuclear waste contamination. Mallinckrodt basically made a deal with the federal government to have exclusive rights to produce weapons-grade uranium. When the nuclear waste from the project was less profitable, then they thought it would be they dumped and transported the waste out on uncovered trucks to local landfill sites and left barrels along the creekside. The factory producing the uranium ended up contaminating the creek and the groundwater due to their actions.

There were no animals around when i was there, and the water smelled strongly like metal. It was weird because even in winter places like this usually have quite a few birds like at least some squirrels or sparrows, but there were none. I'm sure it's different during the other seasons but for an uncomfortably warm day it was very eerie.

Anyway the government has been cleaning the creek for decades but refuses to share how radioactive it is.

There are a few schools that are close to this creek and kids and residents who live near it have higher cancer rates.

Still, despite the evidence that this creek is dangerously radioactive from multiple different testing companies and the cancer statistics, our officials still deem this creek "safe." The company was never really punished for the dumping and mishandling of radioactive materials either in fact they company denies ever handling uranium despite the proof.

In my opinion, it's wild to me that people still swim in this creek during the summer, especially after I have gotten close enough to smell it.

Sources

Kite, A. (2024, February 21). Records reveal 75 years of government downplaying, ignoring risks of St. Louis radioactive waste. Missouri Independent. https://missouriindependent.com/2023/07/12/st-louis-radioactive-waste-records/

‘This is a moral failure.’ A Missouri community says leftover radioactive waste is making them sick. (2024, December 20). PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/after-decades-of-nuclear-waste-exposure-this-missouri-community-wants-action

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SIX DRUMS FILLED WITH TOXIC CHEMICALS DEPOSITED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN FOUND BURIED IN CANCER-PLAGUED LONG ISLAND TOWN

📹 Six 55-gallon drums filled with toxic chemicals, and encased in concrete coffins, some broken, were found buried under Bethpage Community Park in cancer-plagued Bethpage, a town on Long Island in New York State, which was deposited by U.S. military contractor Northrop Grumman.

Previously, the town of Bethpage had to contend with a 6-square mile toxic plume of hazardous waste resulting from Northrop Grumman's dumping of chemicals underground in the area.

At least one of the 55-gallon drums was found punctured, and some contained flammable chemicals.

The drums were found buried just 4-feet underground, underneath the Park's baseball field which was previously abandoned more than 20 years ago due to concerns over soil contamination.

According to a report in New York Post, a layer of clay was found under the drums, where authorities believe chemicals could have seeped into the ground.

Oyster Bay Supervisor, Joseph Saladino, called on authorities with New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to clean up the park by collecting all the contaminated soil and removing it from Long Island. The community's tax payers previously paid $20 million to clean up the site to allow local residents to use the Park's skating rink.

Saladino also filed a lawsuit against Northrup Grumman 10 years ago to reimburse the community's costs for the cleanup, while a new lawsuit was filed in December to order the further cleanup and removal of the toxic soil.

Local residents have been complaining of higher cancer rates in their community for years, arguing that surrounding communities have far lower rates to their own, while the DEC claimed the discovery posed "no immediate threat to public health."

Still, local residents say they're fed-up, continueing to call for the immediate removal of toxic substances, along with demands for a full soil excavation in the park.

“I’ve had it. I’ve had it. I’ve been working on this for over 20 years as a New York state Assembly member and now as the supervisor of the fourth-largest town in America and I’m not going to sit by idly,” Saladino is quoted as saying.

Northrop Grumman, for its part, said it continues to work with the DEC to address the situation.

#source

Errant bathtub

Post Industrial Vibes

ideas development; Looking at patterns, structures, and layers in nature.

Here, I noticed how different my view of a photograph was with a black and white filter. There is a lot of rubbish discarded in rural places. The solution is not black and white.