West Coast friends / ocean lovers: A quick update on Fukishima Radiation. Firstly, I recognize that this subject has garnered a lot of attention and fear-mongering from both Neocons and those in the tin-foil hat community (some are members of both ;).) Nonetheless, it remains a relevant topic since the oceanic radiation plume is slated to arrive on the West Coast this April (Time, Mar 9th). As a lifelong waterman and fisherman, Im interested in the impact of anything that has the potential to adversely affect our ocean and subsequently our health. Fukishima is still leaking 300 tons of tainted water each day (Bloomberg, Feb 19th). Unfortunately, the true magnitude of Fukishimas radioactive impact has been obfuscated by Japanese jingoism and American bureaucracy. From within Japan, the chief source of information has been TEPCO - The Tokyo Electric Power Co, (as in Nuclear power) which The Japan Times outed in February as having hid massively high levels of radiation since last July. Stateside, the Federal Government does not test our oceans for radiation, and it was revealed yesterday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was hiding Japanese nuclear scientists from reporters visiting US nuclear facilities, in an apparent attempt to distance itself from Fukishima. (Daily Beast, March 10th). In documents released thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, it was discovered that Eliot Brenner, the NRCs Public Affairs Director distributed talking points to his staff in the wake of the disaster along with the message that: While we know more than these say, Brenner wrote, were sticking to this story for now. (NBC News, March 10th). The Wikipedia page for Nuclear and Radiation Accidents by Death Toll contains a very telling statement on the scope of information that has been released in regards to the Fukishima disaster: The total amount of radiation released is also not known for certain and the impacts on human health and the environment, and hence the likely number of deaths, cannot be determined with the information available. And while the above statement compels me to believe that there are potential cancer risks being withheld from the public, I can only rely on scientific truth, lest I fall prey to the tin-foil agenda, which would negate my integrity as a writer. Thankfully, there exists a shining light for the people of the West Coast who would be interested in what, if any, threat might be posed to our backyard with the arrival of the Fukishima plume in our waters next month. Researchers from The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Center For Marine and Environmental Activity, and researchers from Cal State Long Beach and UC Berkeley are crowd sourcing financial support to test our waters and they are releasing their findings as they arrive. Im extremely thankful for the University researches who have committed to testing waters throughout the West Coast as well as the people and organizations who are funding this. I will certainly be keeping abreast of their results and you can as well at: ourradioactiveocean.org/ and kelpwatch.berkeley.edu/results
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:36:08 +0000
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