In 2006, the Treasure Island Naval Station Historical Radiological Assessment is commissioned by the Navy as part of its plan to turn over Treasure Island over to the city of San Francisco and developers. The report is later criticized for not providing an accurate accounting of radioactive contamination of Treasure Island. In mid-2007, workers cleaning up Treasure Island found pieces of radium-226 the size of poker chips. At the end of 2007, the Navy asked the California State Department of Toxic Substance Control for approval of a plan to move civilians into existing apartment building where radioactive waste was found in the yards and more waste was thought to be buried under the buildings. In 2008, the California State Department of Public Health objected to the plan and the Navy dropped it. A cleanup worker reported finding many lumps of radioactive metal on the west side of the island.
In 2009, California State Department of Public Health criticized the Navy cleanup at Treasure Island saying that they improperly hauled and dumped radium-laced dirt. They State demanded that the contractor cleaning up the site present a revised safety plan and obtain a license to handling radioactive materials. In 2008, the contractor obtained the requested license. In 2010, radiation health physicians made an unannounced inspection tour of the island and found that gates were left standing open at radioactive waste cleanup sites. When the Navy was notified of what was found during the inspection, their lawyer responded that the unannounced visit was "was not coordinated with anyone and was simply opportunistic.” The Navy then prohibited any unannounced visits to the Treasure Island cleanup sites.
In 2011, cleanup workers find more highly radioactive radium objects which the Navy claims are old ship deck markers that glow in the dark. A California radiation health expert claimed that the radium was from a different and more dangerous source. The California State Department of Public Health issued a memo warning that the incompetent radiation cleanup on Treasure Island could result in the cancellation of the redevelopment plans. A new comprehensive Naval study of radioactive materials on Treasure Island was demanded. There was a report that staff of the California State Department of Toxic Substance Control had joked about withhold readings of contaminated ground water on the island from the California State Department of Public Health.
In 2012, after arguing with the California State Department of Public Health officials for years, the Navy issued a new historical report that admitted that ship salvage operations and the nuclear warfare schools may have been responsible for more radioactive contamination than they had previously admitted. People living on Treasure Island became concerned that unreported radioactive contamination may have made some of them sick. In 2013, reporters take samples of soil from a field near a tennis court. The samples are found to contain high levels of cesium-137. The Navy says that the tests are irrelevant because they were not part of a formal radiation survey. Eventually, the Navy sought a contractor to test the soil where the reporters took the samples for cesium-137. In the fall of 2013, the California State Department of Public Health issued a memo stating that "despite six years of Navy cleanup and San Francisco city government reassurances that Treasure Island is safe, children living there might be at risk of radiation poisoning."
I have previously blogged about newly found radioactive contamination left over from the Sandpoint Naval Air Station in Seattle. There seems to be a pattern here of incompetent handling and reporting of nuclear materials on old Naval Air Bases that have been redeveloped for civilian use.
Treasure Island today:
