KIDS AND FAMILIES EXPOSED TO URANIUM RADIATION FOR 18 YEARS AT MUSEUM
So this is pretty horrifying. Just recently, a National Park Service Safety manager sent out a message. But this “rogue” email included a terrifying allegation. So what could be scary news from a National Park Service safety manager? Well, that there was improper storage of radioactive material at the Grand Canyon Museum. So yeah, that’s pretty damn horrifying. Who tends to visit this museum? Families with children. According to the safety manager Elston “Swede” Stephenson, there were three 5-gallon buckets of uranium ore there. They had been sitting near one of the taxidermy exhibits at the museum Collections Building for 18 years. So what’s the explanation? Because there better be one. Soon. But how did this happen?
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SOMEONE MOVED URANIUM TO GRAND CANYON MUSEUM IN 2000 AND FORGOT ABOUT IT
Are you scared yet? But if you visited the museum during that period of time, it would certainly be a cause of major concern. But that’s if his allegation is true. According to Stephenson, someone discovered them last year and technicians quietly disposed of the uranium ore buckets. They allegedly used a broken mop with gardening and dishwashing gloves. In the email he sent to all Park Service employees on February 4th, he said, “If you were in the Museum Collections Building (2C) between the year 2000 and June 18, 2018, you were ‘exposed’ to uranium by OSHA’s definition.” This is some seriously scary news. His email explained that the uranium used to be stored in a park headquarters basement for several decades. But someone moved it to the museum building in the year 2000.
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SOMEONE WITH A GEIGER COUNTER FOUND THE URANIUM LAST MARCH
Even worse, these buckets were supposedly near a taxidermy exhibit that tours of kids would stop at. Stephenson continued, “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.” So how did someone find this? Blind luck. Well, maybe not blind: equipped. A Geiger counter geek found the ore in March 2018. That’s when workers moved the buckets to another location in the building. According to Stephenson, he learned about the ore a few months after that. So he reported it. Stephenson’s email reportedly included photos of the ham-handed removal of the ore. As of now, the National Park Service is working with the Arizona Department of Health Services and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They are running the investigation. They better get to the bottom of this scandal.
WHEN WILL SOMEONE TELL US THE TRUTH ABOUT RADIATION EXPOSURE?
So all we know is that there is no current danger. Obviously. But that’s because the uranium is gone! So far, no one is commenting if there was while the ore was there. But radiation is insanely dangerous. Everyone knows that. So when will we get real answers? And will they be terrible? Will we hear about damaged children? But what about staff working there every day? Surely, daily exposure is BAD. This is a national park. Visitors from all over the world visit. Someone’s head needs to roll.
Seriously. Someone’s head needs to roll. This is the Grand Canyon.