US wants Marshall Islands to clean up anti-US graffiti

[Stevicus]

U.S. won't clean up Marshall Islands nuclear waste dome but wants it free of anti-U.S. graffiti

For years, American authorities have asserted they hold no responsibility for Runit Dome, a concrete-capped waste site in the Marshall Islands, where the United States dumped 35 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of atomic soil and debris created by its Cold War nuclear weapons testing program.

But sometime during the spring of 2018, unknown vandals spray-painted graffiti across its face: “Nuclear Waste. Property of USA Government. Please Return to Sender” and “Nuclear Waste. Property of the USA. Please Return to Sender.”

That grabbed the attention of the U.S. government and its contractors.

Despite its position that the dome and its radioactive contents belong to the Marshallese government, the U.S. Department of Energy paid a contractor to scrub off the offending message after getting permission from the mayor of Enewetak Atoll, where the dome is located.

Apparently, the dome is leaking plutonium, according to the article:

From 1946 to 1958, the United States detonated 67 nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands. Forty-three of those tests were conducted in Enewetak lagoon. It also conducted biological weapons testing in the atoll and shipped in 130 tons of soil from an atomic testing ground in Nevada for experiments.

During the late 1970s, as the United States was returning control of Enewetak to the Marshallese, the U.S. government initiated a cleanup of the atoll — to remove the most lethal and irradiated land-based soil and debris. It dumped that waste in a 350-foot-wide unlined nuclear bomb crater pit on Runit Island, and then covered it with an 18-inch-thick concrete cap.

The dome, which resembles an old, weathered Houston Astrodome and can be seen from miles away, is reportedly leaking plutonium-laced groundwater into the Enewetak lagoon and Pacific Ocean.

There are concerns that rising sea levels could cause the radioactive waste to spill out into the ocean surrounding the atoll.

In a special report Sunday, The Times documented how Runit Dome is threatened by sea level rise and could eventually spill its radioactive contents into the ocean around Enewetak. While the United States has repeatedly declared it bears no obligation to fortify the structure or take ownership of the waste, the graffiti cleanup reveals it is attentive to keeping the dome free of anti-U.S. slogans.

Some find it ironic that the Energy Department and its contractors are keeping the surface of the dome clean, while doing nothing to prevent the radioactive waste from leaking out of it.

“When there are limited resources, it is disheartening that graffiti removal would take priority over other basic services and requests,” said Holly Barker, an anthropologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

I didn't think the graffiti was that bad, at least as far as "anti-U.S. slogans" are concerned. I've seen much worse.

Another thing I was wondering about: If some graffiti artists managed to do this without being stopped or noticed, then could some terrorists break into that thing and steal nuclear waste to make a dirty bomb or something like that? It seems it would be in everyone's interests to get this thing cleaned up.

In the past, whenever I've heard about the Republic of the Marshall Islands, it's usually in those commercials where they sell commemorative coin sets. Well, that, and WW2 history, and Enewetak Atoll.

 

[shmogie]

U.S. won't clean up Marshall Islands nuclear waste dome but wants it free of anti-U.S. graffiti

Apparently, the dome is leaking plutonium, according to the article:



There are concerns that rising sea levels could cause the radioactive waste to spill out into the ocean surrounding the atoll.



I didn't think the graffiti was that bad, at least as far as "anti-U.S. slogans" are concerned. I've seen much worse.

Another thing I was wondering about: If some graffiti artists managed to do this without being stopped or noticed, then could some terrorists break into that thing and steal nuclear waste to make a dirty bomb or something like that? It seems it would be in everyone's interests to get this thing cleaned up.

In the past, whenever I've heard about the Republic of the Marshall Islands, it's usually in those commercials where they sell commemorative coin sets. Well, that, and WW2 history, and Enewetak Atoll.

Who built the dome ? If it is our waste, we should man up and take care of it.

 

[shmogie]

Who built the dome ? If it is our waste, we should man up and take care of it.

Who cares about what folk write on it, it's their country, not ours.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Who built the dome ? If it is our waste, we should man up and take care of it.

It's US waste, generated while the Marshall Islands were still a territory of the US. But then, the US has left waste all over the world, and hasn't even compensated US citizens who were exposed to fallout from bomb testing, nor cleaned up contaminated property

 

[Stevicus]

Who cares about what folk write on it, it's their country, not ours.

Yeah, but US taxpayers paid for the clean up of the graffiti. The US Energy Department paid contractors and got permission from the local government to do it.

I don't know how much that would cost, but my sense is that it was far less than it would be to clean up the radioactive waste.

On the other hand, if this didn't end up in the newspaper, no one would have even seen this graffiti. Why should they even care about graffiti nobody is going to even see? It's not as if this place attracts a lot of tourists (although I could be wrong about that).

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Of course the US government should clean it up. It should compensate the island for the damage done, too.

 

[Stanyon]

A 55 gallon drum of concrete paint is about $600 so about three or four would probably do the job, hard to get size perspective and that would not stop anyone from doing it again. As far as the waste is concerned if it does pose a risk of contaminating the ocean yes we need to get rid of it but where?
It actually sounds like a pretty nice place to live other than the nuclear waste, man has an infinite capability of turning heavens into hells.

"The United States provides the Marshall Islands with approximately $70 million annually through FY 2023, including contributions to a jointly managed trust fund and financial assistance from other U.S. federal grants. The trust fund will provide an annual source of revenue after FY 2023. Marshallese citizens also continue to have access to many U.S. programs and services. The governments of the United States and Marshall Islands established a Joint Economic Management and Financial Accountability Committee with members from both governments to strengthen management and accountability with regard to assistance provided under the amended Compact, and to promote effective use of the funding provided. Compact grants are primarily funded through and administered by the Department of the Interior.
A number of U.S. Government agencies operate programs or render assistance to the Marshall Islands. These include the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Postal Service, Small Business Administration, U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Department of State, and the Department of the Interior."
source::
U.S. Relations With Marshall Islands - United States Department of State

 

[leov]

U.S. won't clean up Marshall Islands nuclear waste dome but wants it free of anti-U.S. graffiti

Apparently, the dome is leaking plutonium, according to the article:



There are concerns that rising sea levels could cause the radioactive waste to spill out into the ocean surrounding the atoll.




I didn't think the graffiti was that bad, at least as far as "anti-U.S. slogans" are concerned. I've seen much worse.

Another thing I was wondering about: If some graffiti artists managed to do this without being stopped or noticed, then could some terrorists break into that thing and steal nuclear waste to make a dirty bomb or something like that? It seems it would be in everyone's interests to get this thing cleaned up.

In the past, whenever I've heard about the Republic of the Marshall Islands, it's usually in those commercials where they sell commemorative coin sets. Well, that, and WW2 history, and Enewetak Atoll.

https://nypost.com/2019/10/18/antar...oactive-chlorine-from-cold-war-nuclear-tests/
"half-life of 300,000 years"