Sunday, February 12, 2006
We are surrounded by cancer. The woman across the street from us died from a short bout of lung cancer. They treated her for pneumonia and within days, she was gone. Another neighbor's sister is being treated for Thyroid cancer. She's in her early 30's. A woman who works for my husband is being treated for thyroid cancer, and so is her husband. Another woman who worked for my husband died last month from lung cancer. She had NEVER smoked. Everywhere we turn, another person has cancer here.
We just learned that in 1988 there was a massive explosion just a few miles from where we reside. It was at a rocket fuel plant. We know of people who lived in Colorado at the time who were down wind from the toxic cloud, who are now battling cancer. A doctor in one small town up there has 600 cancer patients. With the Nevada Test Site only 75 miles from here and the remnants of the explosion down the road, AND the radioactive waste leaking in to the Colorado River up in Moab, we are being poisoned in every way. Do you think that the powers that be in Las Vegas are going to tell us this? Yeah, right? This is the most gluttonous, despicable city on this planet. But, there are some wonderful people who call it home and should know the truth. We plan to get out of here as soon as a job opens up elsewhere, and will pray for good health in the mean time.
The Nevada Test Site has-
1,100 buildings
400 miles (600 km) paved roads
300 miles (500 km) unpaved roads
10 heliports
2 airstrips
Between 1951 and 1992, there were a total of 925 announced nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site. 825 of them were underground (seismic data has indicated there may have been many unannounced underground tests as well). The site is covered with
subsidence craters from the testing
[1]. The Nevada Test Site was the primary testing location of American atomic bombs; only 129 tests were conducted elsewhere (many at the
Pacific Proving Grounds in the
Marshall Islands).
On
July 17,
1962 the test shot "Little Feller I" of
Operation Sunbeam became the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site. Underground testing of weapons continued until September 23,
1992, and although the United States did not ratify the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the articles of the treaty are nevertheless honored and further tests have not occurred. Tests not involving fission continue.
One notable test shot was the "
Sedan" shot of
Operation Storax, a 104 kt shot for the
Operation Plowshare which sought to prove that nuclear weapons could be used for peaceful means in creating bays or canals — it created a crater 1,280 feet (390 m) wide and 320 feet (100 m) deep that can still be seen today. While most of the larger tests were conducted elsewhere, NTS was home to tests in the 500 to 1000 kiloton of TNT (2 to 4
petajoule) range, which caused noticeable seismic effects in Las Vegas.
In a report by the
National Cancer Institute, released in 1997, it was determined that ninety atmospheric tests at the Nevada Test Site deposited high levels of
radioactive iodine-
131 (5.5
exabecquerels) across a large portion of the contiguous United States, especially in the years 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1957—doses large enough, they determined, to produce 10,000 to 75,000 cases of
thyroid cancer. In 1993, residents living near the Nevada Test Site were included in the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, 1,375 claims were honored (1,121 were denied). As of 2004, the test site offers public tours on approximately a monthly basis, although the taking of souvenir material is prohibited.
The town of
Mercury, Nevada is located on the grounds of the NTS, and at one time housed contingents from
LANL,
LLNL, and
Sandia.
Area 51 and the proposed high-level nuclear waste storage facility at
Yucca Mountain are located nearby.
The
BREN Tower, a 465 metre high guyed tower for radiation experiments with an unshielded reactor, is located in the NTS.
Rocket Fuel Plant Explosion- Nevada
A rocket fuel (ammonium perchlorate) plant exploded in Nevada in May 1988. A consortium of insurance companies sued the rocket fuel plant and others to recover $77 million in damages to surrounding homes by the explosion shock wave. Dr. Fox was a member of the expert team determining the events leading up to the explosion. His work included site inspections, evidence gathering, cause & origin determination, as well as fire simulation experiments.
This explosion is a classic example of how seemingly unrelated events connect together and lead to catastrophe. This event began with the failure of the O-ring seals on the Challenger Space Shuttle, which in turn led to the Challenger disaster in 1986. The Space Shuttle program was then put on hold. However, one of the ingredients of the Shuttle’s solid rocket booster fuel, ammonium perchlorate, continued to be produced at a steady pace.
Soon, all the normal aluminum storage bins for the perchlorate were full and additional storage containers were needed. Instead of aluminum bins, polyethylene drums were used. Neither the unconfined perchlorate nor polyethylene bins present much of a hazard alone, but together they form a classic fuel + oxidizer scenario. Together, the polyethylene material and the perchlorate burn something like a roman candle.
It is believed that welding sparks ignited one of the poly drums filled with ammonium perhlorate. Since there were drums filled with ammonium perchlorate just about everywhere on the site, once started, the initial fire was unstoppable. This growing fire heated the large (sealed) aluminum bins filled with ammonium perchlorate. Once the aluminum bins began to explode, they spread the fire to other parts of the plant where more poly drums and aluminum bins were stored. The final explosion (seen in the video) was a football field sized area of aluminum bins stacked on top of each other. The field was surrounded by the burning poly drums that provided the heat for the explosion.
Dr. Fox is an explosion expert, fire expert, and chemical expert with extensive experience in OSHA chemical regulations and chemical safety.
©2005 CHEMAXX, INC
Uranium's deadly legacyAt the gateway of one of America's most popular wilderness recreation areas lies a ticking time bomb. Colorado River, winding around Moab in Utah, carries drinking water to millions of people in Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Southern California. But it also carries radioactive contaminants.
An abandoned uranium mill near Moab has left behind 10.5 million tons of uranium tailings, which are steadily leaking toxins into the groundwater and the river. Wells in the area reveal very high radioactivity in the groundwater. Fish with elevated radioactivity levels are showing up. The tailings are also releasing large quantities of radon gas into the air. The tailings pile could be compromised by floods, erosion or seismic activity.
Air Quality InvestigationIs the air in the Las Vegas valley cleaner today than it was 10 years ago, even 20 years ago? According to air quality officials, the answer is yes, at least for some pollutants.
For tens of thousands of local residents with respiratory problems, the accurate reporting of air quality can be a serious matter.
When Kevin Janison tells us about the day's air quality, it's of vital importance to tens of thousands of locals for whom dirty air is a deadly health threat. To some government officials though, it's like fingernails on a blackboard.
For instance, say carbon monoxide levels in one part of town spike into the moderate category during the morning commute, air quality officials don't report it the same way a weather caster might. By law, they take an eight hour average for individual pollutants, which invariably show a lower level than the commute-hour spikes. Both approaches are accurate, but one just happens to look better.
"People who see that and are sensitive may make decisions they probably didn't need to make if they think the level was elevated and it wasn't. They might carry an oxygen tank around," said Mike Sword, Clark County Air Quality Management.
By some measures, air quality in the Las Vegas valley has improved dramatically in the past 20 years, despite a doubling of the local population, especially for carbon monoxide, a colorless but poisonous gas produced by cars.
According to the county, the carbon monoxide problem here has been solved. Clark county hasn't exceeded federal standards since 1999, but how do we know this to be true?
The county has 21 air quality monitoring stations placed in strategic locations around the valley. As it turns out, only 7 of those monitor for carbon monoxide, and all seven are in the same part of town, east of the strip, in neighborhoods or at schools.
"A lot of monitoring stations measure a localized situation. In areas where there's a lot of traffic there could be a lot of pm 10 but in another part of the valley it's healthy," said Dave Dickens, Clark County Air Quality Management.
Of the 7 monitors in the county, only two could be said to be in areas of heavy traffic. Is this on purpose? Environmentalists say that around the country, local governments have routinely placed pollution monitors in spots that will produce favorable results, for good reasons.
Violating federal standards could mean a loss of highway funds, even a clampdown on growth, something that would seem unheard of here. The federal EPA keeps an eye on local agencies, but critics say the EPA these days is more cheerleader than enforcer.
"The EPA has become less of a watchdog for pollution requirements to make sure areas like ours are protecting health," said Dan Geary, National Environmental Trust.
Does that mean Clark County is manipulating the data? Officials say no way. Three years ago, an independent study told them where to place the monitors -- in the lowest parts of the valley because that's where carbon monoxide tends to accumulate, rolling downhill like water. A monitor at Tropicana and the Las Vegas Strip, they say, shows almost no carbon monoxide, despite all those cars. If a monitor didn't show carbon monoxide, they took it down.
"We're wasting our resources having them there and that's why the preponderance of stations today are over here. From all that we learned, Clark County has achieved great success in cleaning up carbon monoxide, but one look at the brown haze and it's clear there's still a ways to go on other pollutants," said Mike Sword.
In January, a national survey by Readers Digest said Las Vegas has the 12th worst air in the country. The American Lung Association gives us a grade of "D" for the levels of particulates in our air and an "F" for ozone.
Air quality officials say they are making good strides against ozone but particulates, caused by dust, is a tough problem to solve in a desert community.
At the Meteor Crater 
The really big hole 
Another picture at the Meteor Crater 
I liked the window through the wall 
Sinagua Cliff Dwelling 
Joshua-sized door 
Joshua's 'Castles' 
Grand Canyon 
Joshua at the Grand Canyon 
Bright Angel Trail
![[1]](http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/PhotoLibrary/nf474.jpg){kind=link}