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11 tweets,
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Article published Feb 18, 2019:
1/ "In a rogue email sent to all Park Service employees on Feb 4, Elston 'Swede' Stephenson — the safety, health & wellness manager — described the alleged cover-up as 'a top management failure' & warned of possible health consequences.
Article published Feb 18, 2019:
1/ "In a rogue email sent to all Park Service employees on Feb 4, Elston 'Swede' Stephenson — the safety, health & wellness manager — described the alleged cover-up as 'a top management failure' & warned of possible health consequences.
2/ ...If you were in the Museum Collections Building (2C) between the year 2000 & Jun 18, 2018, you were 'exposed' to uranium by OSHA's definition. The radiation readings, at first blush, exceeds (sic) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's safe limits... (con't)
3/ …Identifying who was exposed, & your exposure level, gets tricky & is our next important task.'
"According to Stephenson, the uranium specimens had been in a basement at park headquarters for decades, & were moved to the museum building when it opened, around 2000. (con't)
"According to Stephenson, the uranium specimens had been in a basement at park headquarters for decades, & were moved to the museum building when it opened, around 2000. (con't)
4/ ... One of the buckets was so full that its lid would not close."😬
Stephenson said the containers were stored next to a taxidermy exhibit, where children on tours sometimes stopped for presentations, sitting next to uranium for 30 minutes or more. (con't)
Stephenson said the containers were stored next to a taxidermy exhibit, where children on tours sometimes stopped for presentations, sitting next to uranium for 30 minutes or more. (con't)
5/ ... By his calculation, those children could have received radiation dosages in excess of federal safety standards within three seconds, and adults could have suffered dangerous exposure in less than a half-minute."😬 (more...) 
6/ "Stephenson said the uranium threat was discovered in Mar 2018 by the teenage son of a park employee who happened to be a Geiger counter enthusiast, & brought a device to the museum collection room. Workers immediately moved the buckets to another location in the bldg...
7/ ...he said, but nothing else was done."
When Stephenson learned about the uranium, he "instantly called a National Parks specialist in Colorado," but they "apparently had no Geiger counter, so they drove to Utah to pick up a Ludlum meter... (con't)
When Stephenson learned about the uranium, he "instantly called a National Parks specialist in Colorado," but they "apparently had no Geiger counter, so they drove to Utah to pick up a Ludlum meter... (con't)
8/ ...which also measures radiation output.
The technicians reached the Grand Canyon several days after his call, on June 18. Lacking protective clothing, they purchased dish-washing & gardening gloves, then used a broken mop handle to lift the buckets into a truck." (more...)
The technicians reached the Grand Canyon several days after his call, on June 18. Lacking protective clothing, they purchased dish-washing & gardening gloves, then used a broken mop handle to lift the buckets into a truck." (more...)
9/ "Stephenson said technicians concealed the radiation readings from him and dumped the ore into Orphan Mine, an old uranium dig that is considered a potential Superfund site below the Rim, about two miles from Grand Canyon Village."😱 (more...)
10/ "In a Feb. 11 email to Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall, Stephenson said he had repeatedly asked National Park executives to inform the public, only to get stonewalled." @AltFireAviation
(one more tweet...)
(one more tweet...)
11/ BTW, if you happen to visit the gorgeous 4-corners area of the US, there's at least one historical marker that mentions #UraniumOnTheCranium (near Page AZ, IIRC). ICYMI: /end
