All of the drain lines containing radium-226 paint waste at Alameda Point have either been removed, cleaned, or are scheduled to be cleaned or removed, except for one: The Industrial Waste Line in the hangar area where aircraft dials were painted. The Navy used this special drain to send industrial wastewater to a treatment facility, and it is now lying dormant, broken in places, and no longer of any use. The problem is that it has radium-226 in the line that resulted from the painting of luminescent aircraft dials. The big question is what to do about it – leave it alone and create a special radiological license, a special exemption, or dig it up?
Read the complete story about the issues facing the Navy, regulatory agencies, and the city in the Alameda Point Environmental Report. Included with the story are the complete meeting minutes from when they discussed the Industrial Waste Line in June of 2013.
