afternoon, from Mt. Tamalpais

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Well, today I'm going to be true to the name of AphotoAday and just show you one photo -- after all, with this rain I seem to be running out of new photos.

Those are the Farallon Islands out there -- they're a protected wildlife sanctuary.

And also out there is where our government dumped thousands of barrels of low-grade nuclear waste in an irresponsible manner.

quoted from Wikipedia:
From 1946 to 1970, the sea around the Farallones was used as a nuclear dumping site for radioactive waste under the authority of the Atomic Energy Commission at a site known as the Farallon Island Nuclear Waste Dump.   Most of the dumping took place before 1960, and all dumping of radioactive wastes by the United States was terminated in 1970.   By then, 47,500 55 gallon steel drum containers were dumped in the vicinity, with a total estimated radioactive activity of 14,500 Ci.

44,000 containers were dumped at 37°37′N 123°17′W, and another 3,500 at 37°38′N 123°08′W.   The primary military agency contributing to the dumping was the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, in San Francisco, which was charged with decontamination of the ships from the Operation Crossroads nuclear testing in 1946 and carried out additional radiological task throughout the period.   The USS Independence, which was irradiated while used as a target at Operation Crossroads, was loaded with radioactive waste from NRDL and other generators, towed to sea and apparently sunk near this site.   The exact location of the containers and the potential hazard the containers pose to the environment are unknown.   Attempts to remove the barrels would likely produce more of a risk than leaving them undisturbed.


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