Toxic on the Susquehanna - Safety Light

by Zach Ruiter

Safety Light sits on the shore of the Susquehanna River just outside of Bloomsburg, PA.  
According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the US, Safety Light Corporation holds an expired license, formerly for the manufacture of tritium exit signs, and for site characterization and decommissioning activities.

Contamination at the site includes H3 (Tritium), Ra-226 (Radium), Cs-137 (Cesium), Sr-90 (Strontium), and Am-241 (Americium). "Radioactive waste was disposed on site in three primary locations: silos, lagoons, and a waste dump." 

David, an employee of the Prana Juice Bar and Namaste Cafe in downtown Bloomsburg, told the Toronto Media Co-op that "very few people know about it and are informed of these issues".

The NRC estimates the cost of remediating the site to be up to $120million.  Up to $120 million dollars is for the clean up alone, health affects to local populations are not quantifiable.

William E. Lynch Jr., the owner of Safety Light, Isolite, and Shield Source (Peterborough Ontario) told CHEX News' Pamela Vanmeer that "Safety Light does not have the resources to pay for clean up and that most of the contamination was from previous owners of the company." 

According to the Canadian Environmental Law Association, "SSI has since recalculated its tritium emissions for the years 2010 and 2011 at five to nine times the levels previously reported."

On May 2nd 2012 the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission canceled the application for a ten year licence renewal for Shield Source, also owned by William E. Lynch Jr.   The tritium sign manufacturing facility at the Peterborough airport was stripped of its ability to process tritium gas without the expressed permission of the Commission. 

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Zach Ruiter (Zach Ruiter)
Peterborough, ON
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