Cleaning up radium paint contamination at Building 5

The middle of Building 5, in the mezzanine area, is where radium-226 luminescent paint was applied to aircraft dials and other devices from 1941 to the mid 1950s. The Navy plans to begin removing the radium contamination from the mezzanine area in December of 2012 or January of 2013.  The harmful health effects of radium […]

Where Alameda Point’s cleanup is at year’s end

  The past year had some high points and low points in the cleanup process at Alameda Point.  Added delays, including a pile-driving surprise, were balanced out by steady progress. The year saw, among other things, completion of a second Point-wide radiological survey of buildings and structures that identified two building interiors needing radium remediation, […]

Navy Studies Radium-contaminated Drain Lines at Alameda Point

Background Up until passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, it was common practice to dispose of chemicals by dumping them down sewer and storm drain lines that drained into the nearest surface water.  Many people did this in their homes. At Alameda’s former Naval Air Station the worst legacy of this practice was […]