A CONTRACTOR FOR the U.S. Navy discovered unauthorized radiological material in the cabinet of a building at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, the Navy announced Thursday.
The contractor reported the discovery on April 8 in a secure building that had no public access. A further inspection revealed that the building also contained boxes with chemicals that also required disposal, according to the Navy.
The discovery was made amid ongoing cleanup efforts at the Superfund site, which is a federal designation given to areas contaminated with hazardous materials that require long-term cleanup.
The site, which is currently blocked off with fencing, was once an active shipyard from 1945 to 1974 where the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory conducted research on the effects of radiation and atomic weapons. The site was also used to decommission radioactive ships, leading to the accumulation of radionuclides contaminating the surrounding soil and water.
The Navy said that last month’s discovery of radiological materials is unrelated to ongoing cleanup operations. The Navy believes that the material was placed in the building by a former subcontractor at the site, potentially without obtaining proper licensing.
“There hasn’t been trust for decades. We’re here 10 years later, and they’re still finding more contamination.”
Bradley Angel, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
But Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, an organization that has previously sued the Navy over its cleanup process at the site, thinks the finding reinforces accusations of a botched and negligent cleanup effort.
“It’s no surprise whatsoever,” said Greenaction’s Executive Director, Bradley Angel, in an interview. “This is further proof that there’s additional contamination that they have no idea where it is, and that’s because the Navy engaged in reckless activity at their shipyard when it was a Navy base.”
The cleanup devolved into controversy in 2012 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accused Tetra Tech EC, one of the Navy’s former contractors for the cleanup, of falsifying radiological data of soil tests and misrepresenting soil samples. Several lawsuits against the company have so far resulted in a $97 million settlement and two engineers from the company being sentenced to prison.
“There hasn’t been trust for decades,” Angel said. “We’re here 10 years later, and they’re still finding more contamination.”
Angel also said that the discovery of radiological material is another example of why there should be independent community oversight of all aspects of the cleanup process.
“That demand is more important than ever because the Navy keeps finding things,” Angel said. “The site continues to pose a very serious threat to public health and environment, especially of the residents who’ve been exposed to the radioactive and toxic waste for many, many decades now.”
The Navy said that the subcontractor that stored the radiological material in the cabinet was not authorized to do so.
Regulatory agencies, including the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state Department of Environmental Health, were notified of the discovery by April 10. It has also been reported to the Navy Office of the Inspector General and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a federal law enforcement agency that investigates crimes involving the Navy and Marine Corps.
The Navy is working with the regulatory agencies the contractor to ensure proper off-site disposal of the material.
More information on the discovery will be shared at the next Hunters Point Shipyard Community Advisory Committee meeting on June 15.
