Life & Times Blog - Blog Archive - Nuclear Biomedical Waste Buried in Brentwood

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About the Story: In the '50s and '60s biomedical waste including hypodermic needles and the cremated remains of radiated lab animals was buried on Veteran Administration land in Brentwood. That land is now being used as a dog park and private school athletic field. Is it still dangerous? That's the question Hena Cuevas set out to answer. (TRT: 8:25)

: Brentwood School; EnviroReporter; Los Angeles City Beat; Representative Henry Waxman; United States Department of Veterans Affairs; Tags: Energy, Environment, Health, Housing, Real Estate, Science & Technology, West L.A.

Nuclear Biomedical Waste Buried in Brentwood

Publish date: December 19, 2007
Last updated: May 2, 2009

Reporter's NOTES

Hena Cuevas
I first interviewed environmental reporter Michael Collins in late 2006 about his reports on contamination at Runkle Canyon in Simi Valley, Calif. Back then, he mentioned something that peaked my interest.

He told me that he was looking into an old nuclear dump site in Brentwood, Calif. Since this is one of the most exclusive areas in Los Angeles, I wanted to learn more about it.

It would take over a year for us to eventually do the story. And as it turns out, it became the last one I would do for Life & Times before the show goes off the air.

It isn’t an easy one to tell—environmental and contamination stories rarely are—but Life & Times was one of the few TV shows on the air that offered the time to go in-depth into these issues.

COMMUNITY VIEWPOINTS

12.27.2007 | 10:39 pm
While the measured values of the radionuclides that are buried in the dump are hard to ascertain due to the fact that they are mostly alpha and beta emitters, which ionize a mere inch, yet are dangerous to inhale, ingest or to be exposed through dermal contact, there are plenty of measurable data at http://enviroreporter.com/vanukedumpinvestigation.html where it is clear that there is a nuclear dump buried there and that the subsurface goo isn’t harmless.

Not only that, but there is now also evidence of high heavy metals contaminating Brentwood School’s athletic fields as we show at http://www.enviroreporter.com/waxman81.html.

If nuclear dumps can be ignored by the idea that just burying the radioactive stuff anywhere is okay, then our nuclear waste problems are solved.

The most surprising thing about our six-year investigation isn’t the pollution we’ve found and are finding, it is the amazing ability of presumably well-educated folks from the area feeling secure in ignoring the facts we’ve unearthed simply because they say so.

Michael Collins - Santa Monica, California

12.26.2007 | 10:13 pm
It is meaningless to talk about radiation hazards without using measured values. We are constantly surrounded by radiation of one kind or another; the question is what kind and at what level.

For reference, the issue was the subject about 25 years ago of hearings before the sport fields behind the post office were approved. Then, too, radiation was alleged, but no numbers were ever produced.

G.E. - Brentwood, California

12.26.2007 | 10:03 pm
To Michael Collins: Thank you so much for commenting on the Life & Times Blog! The video is actually working now. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please note that you need to download RealPlayer on your computer in order to view the video. It won’t be compatible with any other system. Thank you again!

L&T Blog Editor - Los Angeles, California

12.23.2007 | 10:37 am
Learn more about the VA’s nuclear dump in Brentwood at our website at http://enviroreporter.com/nukedumpsummary.html

Michael Collins - Santa Monica, California

12.21.2007 | 2:07 pm
The video segment does not appear to be working as of 1 PM PST on December 21, 2007.

EnviroReporter - Santa Monica, California

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