Contamination above safe levels includes radioactive Radium, Strontium and Cesium, in addition to pesticides and lead. The radioactive contamination stems from Navy use of radium paint for dials when the Park was Sand Point Naval Air Station.
Earlier this year, the Navy expected to begin its cleanup without any public review and comment on its cleanup plans. The Navy's materials include misleading statements implying that the only radioactive contamination is Alpha radiation, which can be stopped by paper or a layer of dirt (although it is highly dangerous if ingested or in contact with skin).
However, radioactive Strontium 90, Cesium and forms of Radium which give off Gamma radiation, which can penetrate walls or soil, are also present.
Contaminated areas include soils around the buildings and under parking areas; and, may extend to the Lake Washington shoreline sediments where storm drains discharge.
From reviewing the cleanup plan,
we are very concerned that the Navy's plan would leave radioactive contamination at levels 80 to 240 times the acceptable cancer risk allowed for children at hazardous waste cleanup sites under Washington's Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA). The Navy's plan - which would allow future exposures to 15 millirem of radiation per year from Radium and Strontium - does not even reference our state cleanup standards!
At the meeting or in emailed comments, join us in urging:
- Cleanup to meet our state's stricter cancer risk cleanup standards to reduce exposures tenfold and increase cleanup;
- Investigation of whether there is contamination of the sediments in Lake Washington around the storm sewer outfalls and along the drain lines;
- Not trucking wastes on detour routes, or when there ar backups, during Sand Point Way NE construction;
- Public input into development of a Public Participation Plan by Washington's Department of Ecology (including notice and signage about the contamination); and,
- Ecology taking regulatory authority over the cleanup.
You can send comments or questions to: ching-pi@ecy.wa.gov
For more information, Ecology's website for project information will be: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/gsp/sitepage.aspx?csid=1359