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• Recent Studies 



Recent studies on the Farallon Dumpsite released by the EPA do not support 

 the conclusion that there is or could be significant environmental or 

 public health consequences due to past waste disposal activities. The 

 application of common sense to the problem provides the necessary 

 perspective. 



First, it can generally be agreed that radioactive waste containers indeed 

 were dumped at the Farallons and other oceanic sites. Second, these 

 containers undoubtedly are corroding and leaking. Given these facts, it 

 would be very surprising if levels of radioactivity in the immediate 

 vicinity of the containers were not elevated in some manner, whether we 

 could measure this increase or not. It would seem that the overriding 

 question, therefore, should be one of potential hazard or threat to health 

 and the environment. Any implication that the mere existence of any 

 radioactive material could constitute a significant hazard is patently 

 false. 



Our assessment indicates that, although levels of radioactivity in the 

 immediate vicinity of the waste canisters may indeed be elevated over 

 background levels, the commensurate hazard involved could, at worst, 

 increase from negligible to insignificant levels. Such an increase may be 

 of academic interest, but certainly does not warrant significant concern 

 since, at its worst, the hazard due to the radioactive waste would still 

 be considerably lower than that due to naturally occurring oceanic 

 radioactivity. 



In terms of the levels of radioactivity in the general area of the 

 Farallons, the report prepared in 1978 by Noshkin(5) concludes: 



Total radionuclide inventory. Quantities of 239+240pu and 137cs 



in Farallon sediments and water are not significantly different from 

 the amounts from nuclear debris (from atmospheric nuclear explosions 

 tests) delivered to the open oceans. Open Pacific plutonium fallout 

 was 2.2-4.4 mCi/km2. 



Radionuclides in marine animals. Fish and benthic invertebrates 

 collected from the Farallon region contain body burdens of 

 239 + 240pLi no different than similar marine species living and 

 feeding in open oceans. Farallon Rockfish contain radionuclide 

 concentrations within the range found in fish from the open 

 Atlantic. Farallon benthic invertebrates have plutonium 

 concentrations similar to invertebrates from northern-latitude oceans. 



These observations are consistent with those of the 1971 National Academy 

 of Science study which found: (6) 



"Over the past quarter century, the major sources of artificial 

 radioactive materials to the sea have been worldwide fallout from the 

 testing of nuclear devices in the atmosphere and the chronic 

 discharge of low-level wastes from operating reactors and fuel 

 processing plants. Much less significant additions have resulted 

 from nuclear detonations below the surface of the sea, from the 

 disposal of low-level waste in packages, and from the inadvertent 

 loss of radioactive materials". 



