On May 18, 2015, our Appalachian Observer weekly newspaper broke the story of the world's largest mercury pollution event.
The direct and proximate result was the beginning of the end for "classified" secret unfettered nuclear weapons pollution and claims of immunity and the right to pollute with impunity.
As recounted by then-Manager Joe Ben LaGrone of DOE Oak Ridge Operations in an oral history, it was also the beginning of the Environment, Safety and Health Program at nuclear weapons sites in eleven states.
Since that time the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors have spent tens of billions on cleanup at DOE sites around the Nation. By 2057, my 100th birthday, it is believed that the cleanup MAY be complete, at a cost of some $300 billion.
It's our money.
In the immortal words of the late Senator Edward McKinley Dirksen (R-Ill.), "A billion dollars here, a billion dollars there, pretty soon you're talking about real money."
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