I can't believe there isn't a thread about this already, as the cleanup's been going on for years.  From the 4/23/06 Dayton Daily News:

 

 

Former area nuke site to become park

Former uranium site northwest of Cincinnati will be a refuge and wetlands experiment.

By Steve Bennish

Staff Writer

 

HAMILTON COUNTY — On a recent afternoon here, a 60-car train loaded with radioactive soil bound for Utah slowly rolled forward, its steel wheels sending up a chorus of squeals as a Canada goose preened with indifference in the sunshine. The goose has heard this racket before, but in a few months won't be hearing it any longer. At the 1,050-acre decommissioned Fernald uranium refinery, it's nuclear waste out and wildlife in.

 

By year's end, this patch of western Hamilton County farm country will be a U.S. Department of Energy-run park of woodlots, prairie, wetlands and savanna. Even the utility poles and train tracks will be pulled up. It was clear during a visit last week that wildlife isn't waiting for a bureaucrat to declare the grounds open. They've already moved right in. Canada geese mix with mallards and wood ducks on one wetland. A deer darts into heavy brush, and a rabbit flees visitors as red-tail blackbirds and a hawk soar overhead.

 

Full Story:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0423fernaldfront.html

From the AP, 5/26/06:

 

 

‘Last of really bad stuff’ removed from Fernald

Friday, May 26, 2006

By LISA CORNWELL

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

 

CINCINNATI - The cleanup of a former uranium processing site from the Cold War era is reaching another milestone as workers prepare to ship the last load of the most dangerous radioactive waste remaining at the site.

 

“Now, we can really see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Lisa Crawford, president of the Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health, a nonprofit citizens group started by about 100 concerned families who lived near the Fernald plant. “This is the last of the really bad stuff.”

 

Full Story:

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=288212

Good news all around. Sometimes you gotta like the EPA.

From the 9/27/06 Enquirer:

 

 

Fernald cleanup update tonight

BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

CROSBY TWP. - Residents can find out where cleanup of the old Fernald uranium foundry stands at 6 p.m. today. Johnny W. Reising, who is overseeing the U.S. Department of Energy project, will give visitors an update, said Jeffrey Wagner, spokesman for Fluor Fernald, the contractor carrying out the cleanup project.

 

The deadline for cleaning up the toxic waste site, which is contaminated by nearly 40 years of uranium refining, is Dec. 31. The $4.4 billion cleanup project will convert most of the 1,030-acre site into an undeveloped nature park that will include wetlands, prairie and forest areas. A water treatment plant will remain in operation to clean up the Great Miami Aquifer, which was contaminated by uranium runoff.

 

Fluor Fernald officials now say the cleanup should be completed by the end of October.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060927/NEWS01/609270371/-1/rss

I've noticed a couple of farms for sale just to the west of Fernald. I think they were waiting for the all-clear to sell.  One positive thing about Fernald is that it kept the land around it beautiful and undeveloped.

Fernald site cleanup complete

Cincinnati Business Courier - 11:44 AM EST Monday

 

The site of the former Fernald uranium processing plant in Crosby Township is now an undeveloped park, and the cleanup is complete, Fluor Fernald announced Monday. The contractor said it presented its declaration of physical completion to the U.S. Department of Energy Sunday, and is awaiting its concurrence.

 

Fluor Fernald began cleaning the site, which was contaminated with nuclear wastes, in 1992. Fourteen years and $4.4 billion later, the area boasts 400 acres of woodlots, more than 140 acres of open water and wetlands, 327 acres of prairie and 33 acres of savanna, Fluor Fernald said in a news release.

 

Full Story:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/10/30/daily5.html

The completion of Fernald is a great thing for Western Hamilton County, and will hopefully allow Crosby Township to move forward with something that can be touted, and not feared has it has been for so long. While Fernald will never be a radiation free zone in our lifetimes, or probably anyone's lifetimes for that matter, hopefully the lack of an uranium processing plant and a "natural wetland, prarie, etc" will eliminate fears of living around the site. It almost makes you weary though, now that this project is complete one can't help but wonder what the future of Crosby Township holds. Development is knocking on the township's front door, and I can't help but wonder if this declaration will pave the way for further development.

^IMO, western Hamilton County need not be developed anymore.  This is clearly a rural area (Crosby Twp) and to pave it over would be a crime.  I would much rather see development/redevelopment guided elsewhere.  I'm not naive to think that development should only occur within the city, but lets keep things somewhat undercontrol...lets work with Delhi Twp, Green Twp, Colerain Twp, and other already developed/growing areas that could use some attention/smart growth and investment.

Rando, I hear you but I have to ask, would you rather have the development happen in Butler & Warren County instead or even worse, NKY?

Rando, I hear you but I have to ask, would you rather have the development happen in Butler & Warren County instead or even worse, NKY?

 

Obviously not, but in order for this type of smart growth to happen successfully without harming a particular community; a growth boundary would have to be put in place.

 

^It would be great, but how do you suggest keeping growth out of Crosby Township without punishing the farmers?

 

Often times in this type of situation with farmers; land trusts are set up in order to protect the land as farming land, and it benefits the farmer financially, as well as, setting up a protection clause for the land itself from being paved over for the sake of financial gain.

 

There is absolutely NO need to pave over farms...there are plenty of development opportunities elsewhere where farmland wouldn't have to be compromised for track homes, or big box retail, or even an attempt at new urbanism in the middle of nowhere.

^It would be great, but how do you suggest keeping growth out of Crosby Township without punishing the farmers?

 

Often times in this type of situation with farmers; land trusts are set up in order to protect the land as farming land, and it benefits the farmer financially, as well as, setting up a protection clause for the land itself from being paved over for the sake of financial gain.

 

There is absolutely NO need to pave over farms...there are plenty of development opportunities elsewhere where farmland wouldn't have to be compromised for track homes, or big box retail, or even an attempt at new urbanism in the middle of nowhere.

 

Is this what you are learning in planning classes? The BC Farm Bureau would be outraged. Farms rarely sell for agricultural purposes anymore and the land is much more valuable as sprawl.

 

I am with you, but I'm not for zoning that will hurt property values.

Anyone know if the park will be open to the public or will it still be restricted? If will certainly be interesting to see if development occurs or will there always be a stigma with the area. I know people live near water towers, cemeteries, etc, but I don't know about a former nuclear faculty.

^Isn't there a pretty large development on New Haven, pretty close to Fernald, just beginning. There is a thread around here somewhere...

Fernald cleanup completed

After 10 years

BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

CROSBY TWP. - The contractor in charge of cleaning up a Cold War-era uranium foundry said Monday that the 10-year, $4.4 billion project to clean up the site northwest of Cincinnati is done. The U.S. Department of Energy now has 14 business days to review the work to see if it meets standards, said Johnny Reising, who is overseeing the project for the federal agency.

 

About 70 workers stapled anti-erosion netting to a 15-acre waste disposal cell to complete work Sunday, said Con Murphy, a project director for Fluor Fernald. Workers still have to complete some small projects at the site, including repaving a road and putting up signs. After its initial review, the Department of Energy will have another 60 days to develop a "punch list" of items Fluor Fernald will need to complete before the contract is complete, Reising said.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061031/NEWS01/610310397

^Isn't there a pretty large development on New Haven, pretty close to Fernald, just beginning. There is a thread around here somewhere...

 

Fort Scott. 1000ish homes and condos methinks^[2], retail at the intersection of SR 128 and New Haven Rd, Blue Rock Road Extension (New Baltimore By-pass. There is currently a sign on Colerain Avenue advertising it. Has the potential to double the population of the township. Given that the population of the township as of 2000 is 2748^[1] Fort Scott could almost double Crosby Township's population, and how quickly would that change the voting habits and tendencies of the area. I am convinced that the winds of change are blowing in Crosby Township, it just might take 10 more years for the change to become evident.

 

I just hope they keep Miami Whitewater Forest Pristine, and hell, why not extend the Shaker Trace.

 

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosby_Township,_Hamilton_County,_Ohio

[2]This article states 400 homes and 550 condos. Lots of people are going to be moving in.

Is this what you are learning in planning classes? The BC Farm Bureau would be outraged. Farms rarely sell for agricultural purposes anymore and the land is much more valuable as sprawl.

 

I am with you, but I'm not for zoning that will hurt property values.

 

What are they teaching you?!?!?!?  Land value is not of the utmost importance...at some point there should be a social value that is considered.  Lowering land values is the point of a growth boundary!  Its goal is to encourage development within an area that discourages unsustainable growth.  Lower land values would also hold very little importance to farmers...as long as they can continue operating their farm and make a buck, then life is good.  But I wouldn't consider being forced to sell your property/farm due to financial forces at work to be a good option.

^You arn't getting what I'm saying. I am with you on the planning side, but, for farmers who want to retire, the land is generally their retirement. If they have to sell for agricultural uses, they are losing money, and many times, the sell.

 

Look at Ross Township and the School Rd property. The family cannot maintain the property and are in debt. The developer would not buy until county planning approved the density. It finally got to the ballot and the "close the door behind me" townshipers turned it down. Maybe rightfully so, but the family/developers are now suing based on, as I understand it, laws that directly prohibit zoning that significantly lowers property values.

 

When I heard this, I was outraged, I mean, what is the point of a zoning or planning commission if those types of prohibitions exist? And apparently, they do, my uncle, who is in the agriculture real estate/farm management business has one several battles on similar grounds.

 

So where does that leave us? Coming from a family with strong agricultural roots, and 66 acres for sale right now in Butler County, I want to know how you protect the farmer?

Well in terms of retirement and someones financial capability to do so...that is another discussion entirely.  There is no way that planning can account for individuals personal finances; our job is to look at what is best for society as a whole...not the individual.

^I'm not talking about someone's ability to retire, I'm talking about land values. You say farmers want lower values, so I strike back with the prime reason they don't.

 

I would love to be able to keep growth in the urban/already developed core of well, anywhere, but there are obviously factors that prevent this type of zoning. With the very strong opposition to further growth in the wester townships of Butler County, we still see a simple reduction in density in zoning. My best answer so far has been property values.

 

With that said, it doesn't sound like either of us know enough on the subject quite yet, so any active planners out there please dump your knowledge upon us students.

What I'm saying is sure...everyone would love to cash in off of their land values once they retire.  However, most people don't bank on this in terms of their retirement money.  Growth boundaries are set up to protect the farmers and those that work off the land.  They are not designed to harm the farmers financially, yes it will hurt their chances to sell out to a developer, but THAT IS THE POINT!!!  As a society, and for the greater good, it is best that they don't sell out for their own individual gains.

 

This land is best preserved for its agricultural uses, and be protected as such...no one is claiming that farming is a lucrative business to be in, but just because that is the case it shouldn't mean that we should allow the precious farms across our nation to be paved over for the financial gains of individuals; without the greater good of society in mind.

 

So in summary, I don't care what happens to the land value, and neither does the overall goal of growth boundaries.  They are put in place to protect the agricultural uses and natural habitats of our nation.  If you simply let capitalism run wild, without these types of checks and balances then we will end up with a country filled with big-box businesses and suburban track homes.  They are cheap to build and very profitable for the developers/land owners; but they are not what is best for society!

I hope it is that simple.

^Well, you have clearly shown the mindset of many people around the nation, and certainly this whole process/situation is and will not ever be simple, but it doesn't have to be either.  The easy/simple way out is often the route of least resistance...not necessarily the route of best results.

 

Just something to think about, I am a very strong advocate of questioning the status quo.  I am not saying that it is always wrong, but everything should be examined to make sure that it is in the best interests of society...not the individual.

^To your last statement...I completely agree!!

Board OKs loan to rehab tracks from line to Fernald

BY ANNIE HALL | ENQUIRER COLUMBUS BUREAU

November 19, 2006

 

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Rail Development Commission has approved a $500,000 loan to the Indiana Eastern Railroad to rehabilitate the Ohio portion of its rail line from the Indiana-Ohio state line to the village of Fernald.

 

In addition to improving the condition of 22 miles of deteriorating track and safety of the rails, the project will include a turnaround track and trestle in Fernald, so trains can reverse direction. The project also is expected to help several major shippers who want to move more of their business by rail, according to Stu Nicholson, a commission spokesman.

 

Lacking the trestle and what's called a "run-around track" requires operators to release the brakes on the train cars and let them roll across busy New Haven Road before stopping the cars with hand brakes. It also requires someone to flag automobiles to a stop in the road. There have been no rail accidents at New Haven Road, according to a spokeswoman for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. But a turnaround track would reduce the odds of an accident, officials said.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061119/NEWS01/611190353/1056/COL02

Farewell to Fernald's foundry

Massive cleanup took 10 years, $4.4 billion

BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | [email protected]

January 8, 2007

 

CROSBY TWP. - Neighbors, former workers and state and federal regulators will celebrate the end of the Fernald cleanup project Jan. 19 at the former Cold War uranium foundry in Crosby Township. And there is more good news for families living near the site.

 

Data from a medical monitoring program show people who live near the site are living longer and following healthier lifestyles than the general population. Doctors overseeing the program credit regular health checks to catch things like cancer and risk factors for heart disease. Most adults in the program lowered their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/NEWS01/701080369/1077/COL02

Fernald cleanup leads to lawsuit

Subcontractor trying to recover $3 million from Fluor Fernald Inc.

BY DAN HORN | [email protected]

January 23, 2007

 

The Fernald cleanup project is over, but a legal fight between two of the project's contractors is just beginning. The dispute erupted in federal court last week when a subcontractor sued Fluor Fernald Inc., which oversaw the just-completed project, to recover at least $3 million in cost overruns.

 

The subcontractor, Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp., says its contract with Fluor Fernald dramatically underestimated how much it would cost Foster Wheeler to demolish and decontaminate a boiler plant complex at the former uranium processing operation. The New Jersey-based Foster Wheeler had planned to remove about 10,000 cubic feet of asbestos and about 2,000 tons of steel as part of its contract.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/NEWS01/701230347/1056/COL02

Why didn't they stop working in the middle of the job when they found out the scope of work was understated??

From the 2/7/07 Enquirer:

 

 

Fernald workers, families state case

Federal panel weighs cancer claims at nuclear plant

BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | [email protected]

 

Sandra Baldridge still doesn't know what, exactly, her father did in all the years he worked at the Fernald uranium foundry. But whatever it was, the Monroe woman is sure it killed him. This week, Baldridge, former Fernald workers and their survivors will make their case for compensation for cancers they believe were job-related to a federal advisory board in Mason.

 

"I know he had something to do with nuclear reactors, but I didn't know what it was all about," she said. "I was 5 when he started working there."

 

The National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health's Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health opens a three-day public meeting today at the Cincinnati Marriott Northeast, 9664 Mason Montgomery Road. The meeting ends Friday. Workers at the Cold War-era foundry refined raw uranium ore and processed it into ingots, derbies and other products used for nuclear weapons and atomic power plants.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070207/NEWS01/702070350/1056/COL02

From the 2/8/07 Enquirer:

 

 

Fernald petitioners win 2nd review

BY PEGGY O’FARRELL | [email protected]

 

MASON – A federal advisory board today asked for a second opinion on a petition seeking special compensation status for former Fernald workers. The Advisory Board on Radiation and Workers Health today asked independent consultants Sanford, Cohen and Associates of Vienna, Va., to review the petition filed by Monroe resident Sandra Baldridge on behalf of workers employed at the old uranium foundry in Crosby Township.

 

The firm also will review documents and data presented by the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health, which determines whether workers at Fernald and other former Department of Energy sites were made sick because of radiation and other toxins they were exposed to on the job. NIOSH officials today recommended denying Baldridge’s petition, saying they had sufficient information to properly determine how much radiation Fernald workers were exposed to.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/NEWS01/302080035/1056/COL02

From the 2/9/07 Enquirer:

 

 

Fernald radiation data to get review

Worker's daughter's petition may expand benefits eligibility

BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | [email protected]

 

MASON - Sandra Baldridge's fight just entered Round 2. A federal advisory board panel voted Thursday to get a second opinion from an independent consulting firm on the petition the Monroe woman filed seeking special compensation for thousands of people who used to work at the Fernald uranium foundry.

 

The board's vote came after health physicists with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recommended rejecting the petition. Baldridge, whose father worked at Fernald before dying of cancer, wants former Fernald workers who developed cancers that might be related to radiation declared a "special exposure cohort."

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070209/NEWS01/702090406/1056/COL02

'New' Fernald welcomes visitors

BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

June 5, 2007

 

CROSBY TWP – Visitors can get an early look at the Fernald Preserve Wednesday through Sunday during the site’s first open house. Tours of the preserve will follow a 6:30 meeting Wednesday. Visitors can see manmade wetlands as well as forest and prairie areas. The site once housed a uranium foundry. Workers removed or buried tons of toxic waste in a federally funded cleanup effort that took 10 years and cost $4.4 billion.

 

More than 900 acres of the complex have been converted into the nature preserve. “Our goal is to make the Fernald Preserve a destination for not only anyone interested in the history of the Fernald site, but also for birders and other nature lovers,” said Jane Powell, manager of the site for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management. Cost for the site’s ecological restoration was $14 million.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070605/NEWS01/306050049/1056/COL02

$4.4B cleanup creates habitats

BY STEVE BENNISH | DAYTON DAILY NEWS

June 9, 2007

 

 

CROSBY TWP. - From 1987 to 1991, Jane Powell worked in a uranium refinery, a key and very secret spot on any map of America's Cold War atomic bomb industry. Now she sometimes works binoculars to check on any one of 144 bird species that have taken up residency or stopped off at the Fernald Preserve in Crosby Township.

 

Today, the former Fernald uranium refinery is home to a family of wood ducks and Powell is site manager of what is now a 1,050-acre wildlife habitat. It's intended to be under U.S. government management as an undeveloped park for as long as there's a government around to manage it. A 10-year, $4.4 billion cleanup and restoration has created a landscape-size collection of important habitats, from tall grass prairies to hardwood forest to wetlands.

 

Full Story:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/06/09/ddn060907fernald.html?UrAuth=%60N_NUOcNUbTTUWUXUVUZTZU%60UWUUaUZU\UZUcTYWYWZV

The future of Fernald

Former uranium plant now pure Preserve

BY POLLY CAMPBELL | [email protected]

 

CROSBY TWP. - At the Fernald Preserve open house Saturday, curious neighbors and former workers came to see the transformation of the former uranium production operation to a nature preserve. Birders with binoculars came to look at a potentially great new birding area. Children came to look for frogs in ponds created by the removal of uranium-contaminated soil.

 

"I caught three kinds of frogs," 5-year-old Cole Ludwick said as Ohio EPA staff pulled monitoring cages out of a pond and carefully handed him a big bullfrog and gave his little brother, Noah, a cricket frog. The cages also brought up a variety of water bugs, including boatmen beetles. "The larger beetles are sensitive species, indicating a more mature wetland," Tom Schneider of the EPA said.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070610/NEWS01/706100325/1077/COL02

This really is a feel good story

It sure is, but I saw the feel good Blue Grosbeak at Miami Whitewater a week ago. Sort of made me do a double take since well, it was really blue, and seemed completely out of place.

 

I'm sure the area will be nice, but signs of it's past will always remain. There will always be a large low level radioactive waste mound visible from what is currently Willey Road. There will be rather long term contamination of the aquifer around Fernald, and I'm sure the Uranium removing water treatment plant will continue to operate for quite some time.

 

However, what they did is great, although I am sure that Crosby Township probably really hates having this 1000+ acre site and Miami Whitewater Forest in their township as it 'kills future tax revenue'. One thing it does do though is preserve the habitat in an area which is almost guaranteed to experience sprawl down the road, and for doing that and doing its part to preserve the rural / undeveloped heritage of Western Hamilton county I greatly appreciate that.

^yea, but crosby twshp is reveling in the development just down the road from fernald.  I forget the name but its in new baltimore and its a rather large development thats expected to something like double the twshp's population. 

Cleanup site going for green award

BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

February 15, 2008

 

CROSBY TWP. - Officials at the Fernald Preserve are going for the gold in seeking "green" building status at the former uranium foundry. Managers of the Crosby Township site will apply this month for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) "gold" rating for the visitors center.

 

The LEED designation indicates a building uses eco-friendly materials and is designed to reduce energy and water consumption, said Steve Haber, a principal in glaserworks, the architectural firm in charge of the Fernald project. The visitors center, built in 2000 as a warehouse during the site cleanup, will open in June.

 

The site became operational in the 1950s as a foundry where uranium ore was refined into ingots for use in nuclear weapons and later, atomic energy plants. The site will get points toward the LEED designation for re-using the building itself, Haber said.

 

Full Story:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/NEWS01/802150368/1056/COL02

Feds to pay $13.7M for Fernald

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080708/NEWS01/307080028/1055/NEWS

I wonder how long that'll cover the cost of the special water treatment plant at Fernald. It captures groundwater / runoff and filters out the Uranium. This money won't change the fact that there is still a very ominous fenced in hill that anyone can see while traveling on Willey, or the environmental damage already done, but the end product of the Fernald Cleanup is admirable. I hope we never forget what went on at the plant, and the reasons behind its need.

Nature returns to Fernald, with help

A notorious industrial site now nurtures wetlands, prairies, walking trails and 170 bird species

 

Jay Stenger has been admiring the scenery at Fernald. Just a few years ago, that would have been an impossible statement. No one like Stenger, a birder and past president of the Cincinnati Bird Club, would have driven 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati to admire the wildlife in this part of Crosby Township. It was too marred by waste pits, a few hundred bleak-looking buildings and four decades of use during the Cold War as a plant that refined raw uranium for nuclear weapons.

 

Once the Department of Energy got behind a $4.4 billion cleanup to make the place environmentally friendly, Fernald became what it is today: Fernald Preserve, two linked words that are no longer a contradiction in terms. The once-toxic plant is free of almost all of its industrial buildings, including storage silos that contained the largest source of radon gas in the world. What’s left is becoming a destination for nature-lovers.

 

Full Story:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/08/18/focus4.html

Fernald Closure Project

 

http://www.lm.doe.gov/land/sites/oh/fernald_orig/index.htm

Opens today!!

 

Former Fernald Site Gets Back To Nature

Last Update: 11:56 am 

 

Web produced by: Alyssa Bunn

Contributor: Mark Sickmiller

 

The Crosby Township, Ohio site where uranium was processed during the Cold War era has been given a new life.

The former Fernald Site located 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati is opening up as a nature preserve Wednesday.

A $7 billion clean-up effort transformed the area into a place for visitors.  A metal warehouse on the site will serve as a visitor's center.

The new Fernald Preserve will be opened to the public at 6:30 p.m.

 

Fernald Visitors Center

Fernald Checks Out, and So Do I

 

My time as a lab rat is now officially over. Growing up near the Fernald Uranium Processing Plant has allowed me a special privilege. Not only did I land about $3,000 from a $78 million class action lawsuit, but for the past 15 or so years I've been given access to bi-annual health checkups at Mercy Hospital Fairfield, part of the Fernald Medical Monitoring program.

 

I also give off a soft green light, like a glowstick. Growing up, Fernald seemed to be a dog food company. My family would drive past the large gate on Cincinnati-Brookville Road on the way out to my aunt and uncle's farm in Okeana, and the sign had a checkerboard logo next to the words "Feed Materials Production Center."

 

To me -- and many others -- it appeared they manufactured dog food there. Dogs need "feed materials," don't they? Made sense to a kid. It wasn't until around 1984, when I was 10, that everyone began to figure out what the water tower I could see from my Colerain Township bedroom window -- with the soft orange glow from the sodium vapor lights and the red blinking light on top -- really was. The place made "feed materials" for nuclear weapons (i.e., enriched uranium) and frequently leaked uranium and radon into the atmosphere and water tables all around the area.

 

Full Story:

http://citybeat.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A145993