Radiation in Utah: Death of the Bald Eagle.
On Friday, March 11th, 2011 East Japan experienced a massive earthquake that measured at a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter Scale. The enormous tsunami that followed this earthquake caused even more damage than the earthquake itself. The effects of the Tsunami led to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. Three of the sites nuclear reactors melted down, resulting in record amounts of radioactive materials seeping into the Pacific Ocean.
Almost three years later, the effects from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster are only starting to get worse in the United States. Radiation has started to engulf the Western Coast of the United States, and has even spread to the East Coast. Recently, I have become enormously concerned with the extremely high levels of radiation in Utah and other non-costal western states. The highest concentrations of radiation rest in the Pacific Ocean, so why are in-land states, Utah in particular, testing in second place for radiation levels? And why are all our Bald Eagles dying at such an alarming rate out there?
Ever since March of 2011 the radiations levels in Utah have been rising at alarming rates. The Nuclear Emergency Tracking Center has warned officials with the Utah office of Emergency Management and the Department of Homeland Security numerous times about the high amount of radiation in St. George and other cities, but they have failed miserably at informing the residents of those areas about the radiation.
The Draco Kill Shot
An interesting event occurred nine days after the nuclear meltdown in Japan. On March 20th, 2011, a thirteen year old boy named William Lucas discovered the largest Gamma Ray Burst ever observed. He was able to make this discovery with a Geiger counter he had received for his thirteenth birthday. His findings were confirmed by NASA. The Gamma Ray burst came from a black hole in the Draco Constellation, 3.8 billion light years away from Earth. William named it the “Draco Kill Shot”. A Government map of radiation reveals that the day of the “Draco Kill Shot”, the most concentrated and highest levels of radiation ever recorded in history were in Salt Lake City, Utah and surrounding areas, even more than Fukushima on the day of the nuclear meltdown.
It is hard to say how many Bald Eagles have died since the Fukushima Disaster, but from just December 2013 to February of 2014, well over 100 Bald Eagles have died. All sick Bald Eagles that have been brought into Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers in Utah suffered from seizures, head tremors, and paralysis. Most died within 48 hours. For many years these deaths were blamed on the West Nile Virus, now they claim lead poisoning. But the symptoms these Bald Eagles are suffering from are not typical of lead poisoning, and only four Bald Eagles have been reported as having any high levels of lead or mercury found in their blood. Many are starting to question, is the country’s official bird being wiped out due to radiation poisoning? I would tell you without a doubt, yes.
Before the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster, Utah already had above average levels of radiation. Utah is home to an unknown amount of active man-made nuclear sites, only four of which are monitored by the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP). The Delta Site, nearest to the Salt Lake Valley pumps out over 12 micro roentgens of Gamma Radiation an hour. The Cedar City Site and the St. George site are producing about 10 micro roentgens an hour, while the Milford site comes in first, pouring out over 17 micro roentgens of Gamma Radiation an hour. All these sites are filling Utah’s air with Gamma radiation every hour of every day. This radiation seeps into our soil and is in our air, water, and rain! It is clear Utah could not take much more radiation, and now signs of radiation poisoning and death are showing up in our Wildlife. Who are the next victims? Is it our pets, then us?
Utah was built on big businesses like ATK (formerly Hercules Powder Co.), and the Kennecott Copper Mine; who are two of the largest contributors of pollution and radiation in the state of Utah. That is a whole other article on its own. These two corporations alone have created thousands of jobs for Utah workers. That is one small reason I believe that many have chosen to be ignorant or ignore the pollution problem in their own state. But what can the people of Utah, who are willing, do about this pollution problem? I do not know. What will the Utah Government do? Probably nothing.
Kennecott Copper Mine
Do you believe the death of the Bald Eagle is due to Radiation?
Sources:
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cemp/
http://www.netc.com/
http://www.waaytv.com/news/local/huntsville-s-young-scientist/article_a1f7a86a-8094-11e2-9004-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=story
http://enenews.com/govt-model-shows-highest-levels-of-fukushima-radiation-over-salt-lake-city-utah-and-surrounding-area-on-march-20-2011-most-intense-concentration-of-anywhere-in-world-including-fukushima-graphi
http://enenews.com/la-times-experts-concerned-bald-eagles-deaths-related-to-fukushima-radiation-very-unusual-its-hard-to-have-your-national-bird-in-your-arms-going-through-seizures-idaho-offi
© 2014 Mary Metallic