240 



1. July 1959. — A 55-gallon drum washed ashore at Coos Bay, Oregon, was 

 thought to contain radioactive material but analysis determined the contents to 

 be lubricating oil and sea water. No radioactive materials were associated with 

 either the drum or its contents. 



2. September 1959. — A 55-gallon drum was found on a beach at Tacoma, Wash- 

 ington, on September 27, 1959. The drum bore a radiation symbol and the words, 

 "Do not open." Investigation showed that neither the drum nor its fluid con- 

 tents were radioactive. The fluid contents were a type of mineral oil used in 

 refrigerator compressors. No information could be obtained as to the source 

 of the drmn. 



3. September 1960. — A 30-gallon drum was netted on September 29, 1960, in 

 about 275 feet of water about 12 miles east of Marblehead, Massachusetts. The 

 drum was examined by the Coast Guard, Boston, Massachusetts, on October 3, 

 I960, and no breaks were found in the drum. The radiation levels at the surface of 

 the drum were found to be well below the radiation levels permitted for normal 

 transportation of radioactive materials as specified in Interstate Commerce 

 Commission regulations. Crossroads Marine Disposal Corporation, an AEC 

 license, identified the drum as one dropped by it. Crossroads took possession of 

 the drum and shipped it to Oak Ridge National Laboratory for disposal. 



4. October I960.— On October 22, 1960, Mr. Eisendrath, Daily Herald, Biloxi, 

 Mississippi, informed Oak Ridge Operations Office that some picnickers had 

 found a plastic container with a wooden top and bottom on the beach at Biloxi. 

 The container had stenciled on it, "Danger — Radiation. Use Equipment Within 

 10 Feet. AEC 19687 MISS." The container was not seaworn and appeared to 

 have been recently placed in the water. The police were informed and they 

 notified Kessler Air Force Base. A representative from the Air Force Base 

 surveyed the container with a radiation survey meter and found no evidence 

 of radiation. The container was disassembled and the inside of a vaciium bottle 

 was found therein. Inside the vacuum bottle insert were flashlight batteries 

 connected to a buzzer which was activated when the container was moved. It 

 was concluded that this was a hoax. 



5. March-April 1961. — Seven commercial fishing trawlers netted about 40 

 steel drums about 80 miles southeast of Manaquan, New Jersey. All the drums 

 were dumped back into the sea by the fishermen shortly after they were netted. 

 No evidence was found by AEC that any radioactive waste had been disposed of 

 in that area, nor was there any evidence that the drums contained any radio- 

 active materials. 



6. January 1962. — Three steel drums, two of 55-gallon size and one of 30-gallon 

 size were netted by a fishing trawler off the New Jersey coast. Two of the drums 

 contained a plastic-like material and the third drum was empty. A sample of 

 the material was analyzed and found to be organic material and non-radioactive. 

 The Bureau of Explosives concluded that the material was a residue from a 

 plastic manufacturing process. 



7. June 1962. — Ten drums were found along the Florida coast which were deter- 

 mined to contain metallic sodium and were not radioactive. They were taken 

 out to sea and destroyed by a Naval Demolition Team. The drums were from a 

 shipment aboard the motor vessel "Heedless" which sank in the Gulf of Mexico 

 on January 29, 1962. 



'8. Jitly 1962. — A 2-inch by 2% -inch cork wrapped in lead foil was found on 

 the beach at Oceanside, Oregon. There were no AEC markings but there was a 

 radiation symbol, apparently attached as a tag. It did not appear to have been 

 in the water very long. It was taken to the Coast Guard Station at Garibaldi, 

 Oregon. The cork was surveyed at Hanford and no radiation above backsround 

 was foimd. 



9. March 1965. — ^A refrigerator door was found on the beach at Long Branch, 

 New Jersey, on March 28, 3965. There was a 1-inch by 6-inch tane on the door 

 with the radiation symbol and the words, "Caution — Radioactive Material." 

 The Safety Director from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, surveyed the door and 

 the beach in the ImDiediate vicinity and found no radiation above background. 



10. April 1961. — Four drums and three smaller containers washed ashore near 

 Gloucester, Massachusetts. Investigation by the Coast Guard revealed that the 

 contents were petroleum derivative wastes and were nonradioactive. They had 

 been dumped 10 miles out by a Massachusetts firm. 



11. May 1967. — A fishing boat netted a concrete container about 5 miles off the 

 coast at Scltuate. Massachusetts. Markings that were noted on the container 

 before it was dumped back overboard identified it as a container that had been 

 delivered to Crossroads Marine Disposal Corporation in August 1957 for disposal 



