3,474 Sites in State Feared Radioactive
California has 3,474 sites that may be contaminated by radioactive material, more than any state except Colorado, according to the federal government’s first attempt to make a national inventory of such sites.
The study, commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and released Wednesday by a Senate committee, found more than 45,300 such potential “hot spots” across the nation. It concluded the government is responsible for about half of them.
The government’s list, based on surveys of federal agencies, does not include Norton Air Force Base in Riverside, where EPA officials long have searched for proof of nuclear contamination.
Some environmentalists contend the list supports their argument that the EPA needs to accelerate the cleanup of sites.
The Senate Government Operations Committee will conduct a hearing on the issue today.
California’s 3,474 sites include 952 that belong to the Defense Department, 209 to the Department of Energy, 10 to the Veterans Administration and four to the EPA. Hospital and medical uses account for 544 of the sites.
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