Three major banks suspend lending for shipyard home purchases

The Parcel A home area was transferred from the Navy to the city in 2004; multiple agencies declared it safe for development and free of harmful radioactivity. But in 2014, whistle-blowers who had worked for lead cleanup contractor Tetra Tech emerged and said that the cleanup process on the Navy-owned portions was fraudulent and broken. Two former shipyard workers also raised questions about possible contamination on Parcel A.

Since then many of the whistle-blowers’ allegations have been confirmed by government agencies. This year the Department of Justice announced that two former Tetra Tech cleanup supervisors had admitted to faking radioactivity tests to make the site appear cleaner. Tetra Tech has said that all problems were caused by a few “rogue” employees, but both the Navy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have concluded that the company’s radioactivity measurements can’t be trusted and the site should be retested.

One of the plaintiffs, Salustiano Ribeiro, said he bought a condo at the shipyard last summer and has since grown worried about his health after learning of fraud that occurred in the shipyard cleanup.

The state health department has already released a letter saying that its radiation scan of the home area is complete, only the one radioactive deck marker was found, and the rest of the scanned areas appeared normal, though the agency is still reviewing the data. Lennar said it expects that when the final report is issued, the lending environment will return to normal.

Like the other agencies that perform oversight of the shipyard cleanup, the state health department did not discover problems with Tetra Tech’s work until whistle-blowers emerged in recent years. It’s unclear whether homeowners will accept the conclusions of the department’s final report on Parcel A.

“Let’s do a soil testing,” said Ribeiro, the homeowner and plaintiff against Lennar. “Let’s do a full evaluation of the soil. But they will not do it.”

https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Three-major-banks-suspend-lending-for-shipyard-13486725.php?t=57a54d0dd4

Who could be responsible for such fuckery???

Is this an isolated incident or part of a larger problem?

Just CA problem or elsewhere in the US?

>>4443844

Tetra Tech PAY DIRT ANONS!

Help digging needed if anyone interested.

'''Masters of (Dealing with) Disaster

Tetra Tech helps our clients prepare for, respond to, recover from, and rebuild after disaster strikes.'''

'''Helping Build a Sustainable School to Empower Girls through Education

Tetra Tech provided funding and engineering support for a girls academy in Sogakope, Ghana.'''

'''Exploring “The Journey of Gold” in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Tetra Tech collaborated with USAID, Google, and other partners on a unique virtual reality experience to look inside artisanal gold mines.'''

and moar here: http://www.tetratech.com/

>>4443895

>Tetra Tech collaborated with USAID, Google, and other partn

>>4443844

Wonder what else they haven't been telling us for decades? From 1980:

Concern grows over radiation leaks at nuclear weapons lab in California

Concern is growing over the safety of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, the place where most US nuclear weapons are developed. There have been two unexplained (although minor) radiation leaks this month. A federally required environmental impact study on the lab site has been held up pending investigation of what a lab spokesman calls "geologic puzzles" involving new earthquake information.

Moderate earthquakes in late January resulted in the leakage of about 50 gallons of water containing low-level radioactive tritium. The quake also sheared the bolts holding the frame of a $25 million laser facility and caused damage to an administrative wing of the building containing highly toxic plutonium. Direct damage totaled $2 million, with another $8 million for upgrading "things that might be flimsy, but didn't break," said a lab spokesman.

Although the final environmental study will not be released for some times, some local officials – including five San Francisco-area congressmen – last month urged the DOE to remove plutonium from the lab.

Meanwhile, Energy Department officials continue to investigate what lab officials called "minor leaks" of plutionium April 8 and again April 16. The amounts of the poisonous material that escaped apparently were small, but officials are concerned about how the accidents might have happened.

Last week, California health officials released the results of a study showing an unusually high incidence of "melanoma" among the 6,000 employees at the Lawrence Livermore Lab. The disease is usually associated with ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but some researchers now say it may be caused by exposure to ionizing (nuclear) radiation.

This new report probably will cause the environmental impact study on the lab site to be delayed even more, according to a lab spokesman.

https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0428/042844.html

>>4443844

And from 2009:

Nuclear-weapons cleanup has miles to go

LIVERMORE, CALIF. — The Energy Department is spending $328 million to clean up two separate areas of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – the agency's largest nuclear-weapons cleanup project in California.

The cleanup is relatively minor compared with others in the U.S., but it still has led to conflicts between the local community and the federal government as both search for a solution that is affordable and environmentally acceptable.

Livermore is one of two U.S. labs that designed nuclear weapons. It continues to conduct research into plutonium behavior, high-powered lasers, computer-simulated nuclear reactions and other areas.

Under the cloak of secrecy, the lab conducted experiments with plutonium and uranium, and fabricated prototype weapons parts. At its large test range near Tracy, in Northern California, it blew up atomic triggers that used depleted uranium.

In the process, Livermore released uranium, tritium, solvents and high explosive residues into the ground and groundwater, said Judy Steenhoven, deputy chief of environmental restoration at the lab. The contaminants, however, have not affected public water supplies. Although Livermore's contamination is far less potent than at other sites in the nuclear-weapons complex, it is unlikely that the land will ever be suitable for homes or other uses for the general public.

A formal environmental decision last year designates the land at the larger of two sites as industrial use, a common restriction for thousands of square miles contaminated in the nuclear-weapons program.

At the main site in Livermore, a plume of underground water contaminated with solvents, mainly trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, as well as tritium and chromium, has migrated several hundred feet past the site boundary to a residential neighborhood.

This year, the Environmental Protection Agency fined the lab $165,000 for failing to control the contamination. The lab had shut down its water treatment system after a temporary interruption in funding, but even after Congress restored funds, the lab "demonstrated a lack of diligence," the EPA said.

Meanwhile, the lab's testing range, known as Site 300, has depleted uranium, solvents and tritium in its soil and groundwater.

At the highest concentrations, the tritium there reaches 264,000 picocuries per liter, about 13 times the federal standard.

It took a court order for Livermore to cap private wells that drew from the contaminated plume, said Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, a watchdog group in Livermore.

Though Kelley said the cleanup at Livermore had been more competent that at other locations, she believes cleanup standards across the nation are too lax and fail to protect human health.

"There is no best solution for the cleanup, only bad solutions," Kelley said.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/13/nation/na-radiation-livermore13

>>4443844

Residents near Santa Susana Field Lab seek independent study of contamination near nuclear meltdown site

Reacting to what they say has been the long-delayed cleanup of the former nuclear research lab, residents want their own study of toxins in the area.

When the deadly Woolsey Fire broke out at the Santa Susana Field Lab site last month, state officials assured residents that no high-level toxins or radiation were present at the site, known for decades of nuclear and rocket-engine testing in the hills above the San Fernando and Simi valleys.

But those statements have been met with skepticism by residents and activists. Now, they are rolling out their own study that will look into potential contamination from the site during the fire.

“The agencies have failed us,” said Denise Duffield, associate director for Physicians for Social Responsibility, a group that advocates for policies and practices that improve public health. “They are putting out information that is scientifically impossible. If you can tell people that there is no risk, you should give us the measurements, methodology and equipment used.”

https://www.dailynews.com/2018/12/16/residents-near-santa-susana-field-lab-seek-independent-study-of-contamination-near-nuclear-meltdown-site/

>>4444444

Winner Winner

Fried Chicken Dinner