NH #659: Nuclear Clean-Up Lies, Tricks & Secrets – It’s all the same! Melissa Bumstead on Santa Susana Field Lab in CA, Vina Colley on Piketon/Portsmouth in Ohio

This Week’s Featured Interviews:

Vina Colley – Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security

  • Vina Colley (seen in keystone photo on the left) has been fighting for nuclear clean-up in Piketon, Ohio, from radioactive waste created by the long-closed Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. But sweetheart deals between government and nukesters are leading to Ohio building two new nuclear reactors in the area and becoming something they call a “nuclear hub” — which more realistic minds call a nuclear sacrifice zone.

    Thousands of metal cylinders of corrosive radioactive waste — most weighing 14 tons and many heavily etched with rust — stretch across industrial yards. Five plumes of poisoned groundwater lie beneath the surface, one of them so close to private land that traces of contamination were found in a monitoring well on a nearby farm. Buildings are contaminated with radiation, beryllium, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and asbestos.

    Now a supposed “clean up” is proceeding without public oversight or input, and spreading the risk – and Vina, as founder and head of National Nuclear Workers for Justice and PRESS – Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security – has been fighting ferociously against it. We spoke on February 2, 2024.
  • CONTACT for Vina Colley: [email protected] ; Vina Colley on Facebook
    Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security (PRESS)
    National Nuclear Workers for Justice (NNWJ)

Melissa Biumstead – Parents Against Santa Susana Field Lab

Burn pit at Santa Susana Filed Labs Area 1, which was supposed to begin on Monday, Feb. 5 but was delayed by the massive rainstorm and flooding. Historical photo from Parents Against the Santa Susana Field Lab.

  • The Santa Susana Field Lab in Simi Valley, 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles, is the site of an un-contained nuclear meltdown in 1959, which vented radioactivity directly into the environment and contaminated the land for miles around – a fact which not discovered until 20 years later. It has burn pits that were used for improper disposal of nuclear and other highly toxic materials, and suffers from decades of neglect and lies by whatever company had control of it at that time. Now Boeing – current owner of a major portion of the site – is suddenly launching into an “emergency” clean-up. But what’s behind this sudden “emergency,” and what lies between the claim of “clean-up” and the way it’s being handled? There’s a huge gap, with all details kept hidden from the local community.

    That’s what today’s guest, Melissa Bumstead, addresses. Melissa became an accidental activist for the SSFL cleanup after her four year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia in 2014. She is Founder of Parents Against SSFL and a tireless – though often tired – grassroots Organizer.

    When we spoke, it was during the recent massive rain storm that created flooding, landslides and mudslides throughout southern California – and we make reference to the impact of that storm on the Santa Susana Field Lab site. I spoke with Melissa Bumstead on February 5, 2024.

In the Dark of the Valley – An award-winning documentary on the Santa Susana Field Lab featuring Melissa Bumstead and the other activist moms. Free with ads.

LINK to SSFL survey – please fill out!

Circus Tent could Cover SSFL Site Remediation, Protect Local Residents from Radioactive Dust

A circus-style tent was used in New Mexico during remediation of the Los Alamos National Lab site, so why not cover the SSFL burn pit remediation one? Here are just two of the circus tent manufacturers here in the U.S. capable of making an appropriate tenf for uner $100,000 – chump change to a company like Boeing.

Numnutz of the Week (for Outstanding Nuclear Boneheadedness):

Post-nuclear apocalypse, why does anyone think that seaweed will keep us alive and sane?

Nuclear Hotseat Hot Story with Linda Pentz Gunter

There’s a coup underway on Capitol Hill to make an already toothless lapdog, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, even weaker – by removing safety as a priority.