SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant pictured December 2004 (Photo: Leaflet/ Creative Commons/ Wiki Commons)
Contamination Even More Widespread After Nuclear Dump Site Leak
Department of Energy to begin investigation into source of leak
Apr 01, 2014
Four more workers have now tested positive for radiation after being exposed to a February leak from an underground nuclear waste dump near Carlsbad, New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday, bringing the total number of contaminated workers to 21.
The announcement came a day ahead of a DOE plan to send a team of experts into the half-mile deep Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to set up bases from which they can begin to investigate the cause of the leak. First detected Valentine's Day weekend, officials later announced that the facility's leak was believed to be releasing radiation into the air.
WIPP is the nation's only permanent underground repository where radioactive waste--including from nuclear weapons production--is dumped deep beneath the earth's surface and stored in salt formations.
Though DOE officials said Monday that all contaminated workers had received "low doses of radiation," well below levels deemed unsafe, they have previously acknowledged that accurately determining dosage requires multiple samples taken over time.
Further, as Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and former senior policy adviser to the secretary of energy under the Clinton administration, recently told Common Dreams, the number of workers exposed was "unusually high."
_____________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Four more workers have now tested positive for radiation after being exposed to a February leak from an underground nuclear waste dump near Carlsbad, New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday, bringing the total number of contaminated workers to 21.
The announcement came a day ahead of a DOE plan to send a team of experts into the half-mile deep Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to set up bases from which they can begin to investigate the cause of the leak. First detected Valentine's Day weekend, officials later announced that the facility's leak was believed to be releasing radiation into the air.
WIPP is the nation's only permanent underground repository where radioactive waste--including from nuclear weapons production--is dumped deep beneath the earth's surface and stored in salt formations.
Though DOE officials said Monday that all contaminated workers had received "low doses of radiation," well below levels deemed unsafe, they have previously acknowledged that accurately determining dosage requires multiple samples taken over time.
Further, as Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and former senior policy adviser to the secretary of energy under the Clinton administration, recently told Common Dreams, the number of workers exposed was "unusually high."
_____________________
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Four more workers have now tested positive for radiation after being exposed to a February leak from an underground nuclear waste dump near Carlsbad, New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday, bringing the total number of contaminated workers to 21.
The announcement came a day ahead of a DOE plan to send a team of experts into the half-mile deep Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to set up bases from which they can begin to investigate the cause of the leak. First detected Valentine's Day weekend, officials later announced that the facility's leak was believed to be releasing radiation into the air.
WIPP is the nation's only permanent underground repository where radioactive waste--including from nuclear weapons production--is dumped deep beneath the earth's surface and stored in salt formations.
Though DOE officials said Monday that all contaminated workers had received "low doses of radiation," well below levels deemed unsafe, they have previously acknowledged that accurately determining dosage requires multiple samples taken over time.
Further, as Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and former senior policy adviser to the secretary of energy under the Clinton administration, recently told Common Dreams, the number of workers exposed was "unusually high."
_____________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.