Tag: Operation Crossroads

In the protracted work of Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai to research, educate and eradicate the harms of the deadly dumping of killer contaminants at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Sumchai exposes the additional history of animal radiation experiments compounding the suffering.

“On Sunday, the 15th of July, about noon, we were at Hunters Point and they put upon us what we now know was the atomic bomb.” – Capt. Charles McVay III, US Navy Commanding Officer, USS Indianapolis (Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center)

If the committee of four UC researchers have had very limited, if any, freedom to design their “independent review,” how can they be sure that what they have been instructed to do can address the very complicated issues of the Shipyard and is good for the community?

Daniel Hirsch, president of the nonprofit Committee to Bridge the Gap and former director of the Program on Environmental and Nuclear Policy at the University of California Santa Cruz, spoke with the press in advance of a community presentation at Hunters Point Shipyard. Many Shipyard residents have been frustrated with what they feel are less than forthcoming answers from the Navy and regulatory agencies regarding the radioactive contamination at the Shipyard.

Liberation News spoke with Bradley Angel, the executive director of Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, about the news that a U.S. Navy-sponsored review of the radioactive cleanup at the former shipyard in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point revealed massive fraud by federal contractor Tetra Tech. According to the review, nearly half of the data produced by Tetra Tech has been manipulated, falsified or is otherwise suspect.

On Nov. 13 the San Francisco Chronicle ran a lead story written by the S.F.-based Center for Investigative Reporting. The story was about the radioactive contamination of Treasure Island, a former U.S. Navy base in the middle of the Bay. This story is important in and of itself but also because it once again unearths the region’s role in the birth of the atomic age and also highlights the radioactive legacy that continues to haunt us.