‘Unrestricted’ US park found by expert with areas as radioactive as Chernobyl
It is alleged that parts of the park are just as radioactive as Chernobyl in Ukraine
Believe it or not, there's a park in the US that residents have 'unrestricted' access to and parts of it are allegedly as radioactive as the infamous Chernobyl.
While Area 51 is highly guarded and 'use of deadly force is authorized', there is one place here in the US that poses a danger to life in a completely different way.
The connection? There is none.
Yes, there is no relation, it's just striking how a spot that is as radioactive as Ukraine's Chernobyl has nothing preventing anyone from strolling into the area and coming back mutated, while there is a place in the desert where we can't take pictures.
Advert
Anyway, let's get into it.
If you're from the US, you've probably heard of Acid Canyon in New Mexico. It's a hiking trail near to Los Alamos, which is where the atomic bomb was developed and created.
It has been alleged that for more than 20 years, the US Government would dump radioactive waste into Acid Canyon.
The US Department of Energy said: "From 1943 to 1964, nuclear weapons research activities at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) produced liquid effluent wastes from general laboratory, chemistry, and radiochemistry operations.
"By 1951, a treatment plant was constructed on the south rim of Acid Canyon to remove plutonium and other radionuclides from the waste streams originating from the original main laboratory technical area (TA-1).
"The treated and untreated wastes were discharged from the main acid sewer line, which terminated at the head of the south fork of Acid Canyon."
They added: "In 1953, a new plutonium research laboratory complex began piping additional radioactive liquid wastes to the treatment plant.
"If treatment was not necessary to meet release criteria in effect at the time, the raw waste was discharged directly to Acid Canyon.
"In 1958, liquid wastes from a new radiochemistry facility were added to the treatment plant’s load. Wastes were finally redirected to a new central waste treatment plant in 1963, and the last releases to Acid Canyon occurred in June 1964."
That is 21 years of toxic waste being dumped on the land, so obviously it has damaged the land.
In July, data was collated by biochemist Michael Ketterer, a professor at Northern Arizona University.
Speaking publicly about his findings, he told the Guardian: "I've never seen anything quite like it in the United States. This is an unrestricted area.
"It's just an extreme example of very high concentrations of plutonium in soils and sediments."
He explained that the radioactive plutonium has leaked into ground water which will be absorbed by plants and will then be eaten by grazing animals, or even spread through the air as wildfires become more common due to climate change.
He added: "This is one of the most shocking things I've ever stumbled across in my life."
Topics: Chernobyl, Climate Change, Military, US News
Joe Yates