I have been researching information about Ames Laboratory’s hazardous waste sites for seven years.

I have attended the recently held public meetings and have read through hundreds of pages of documentation, some of which is not contained in Ames Lab’s information repository.

I have also filed several appropriate Freedom of Information Act requests and have contacted Senator Harkin for assistance in making further relevant information publicly available.

I have found some disturbing facts.

Certain Ames Lab officials gave false information at the public meetings. Also, it appears that some Ames Lab personnel are responsible for a cover-up of unauthorized, possibly illegal, disposal of radioactive materials.

Further, some citizens may have been directly exposed to abnormal levels of radiation at these waste sites. Ames Lab has not told the truth about radioactive contamination in the vicinity of the Applied Sciences Center in northwest Ames.

At the first public forum on April 7, 1994, Ames Lab’s Roland Struss falsely claimed that elevated radiation detected by a 1977 aerial survey emanated from the former Research Reactor.

The real origin of this substantially elevated radiation was from improperly stored Cobalt 60 in the old blockhouse about 100 yards east of the reactor. I spoke out about this at one of the later public meetings on June 27, 1994.

Ames Lab claims that only this portion of the public meeting did not get videotaped due to a taping malfunction. Therefore, it was never publicly broadcast. Further, Ames Lab failed to correct the public record. despite several opportunities to do so. The end result was that Ames Lab personnel knowingly misled the public while claiming openness and truthfulness.

And that isn’t the half of it.

What’s most important about the 1977 aerial survey is not what it shows, but what it doesn’t show. Namely, radiation at the Little Ankeny site north of the Applied Sciences Center.

The survey shows that the flight paths of the surveying helicopter definitely covered the area of the Little Ankeny site. This survey was set up to detect all important radionuclides. In 1977, radiation levels at the Little Ankeny site were conclusively shown to be about 13 microrem per hour, easily within the range of normal back ground.

Contrast this to a 1987 ground survey conducted by Environmental Health and Safety at ISU entitled “Radiation Review of the Applied Sciences Center and Surroundings.”

This report shows radiation levels at the Little Ankeny site to be 1200 microrem per hour, at least 100 times normal, and clearly well above Department of Energy limits.

This appears to be the highest level of radiation reported at any site in Ames, yet this site was not posted or fenced. In fact, a hiking trail led directly to it.

The site had to be cleaned up in 1988. The cleanup was funded by either lSU or the DOE, or ultimately by taxpaying citizens.

Certain Ames Lab officials have actively misled the public, and apparently ISU, by claiming that the elevated radiation at the Little Ankeny site originated from building debris that was already substantially radioactive when originally dumped there in 1953.

This claim is false. The 1977 aerial survey shows the site clean. By 1987 it is hot, and requires remediation. Somehow elevated radiation appeared on ISU property between 1977 and 1987, not in 1953.

How did the Little Ankeny site become radioactive? Ames Lab officials have given a false explanation.

Did someone within Ames Lab secretly dispose of radioactive materials on the Little Ankeny site, then blame it on the Little Ankeny building debris?

Then did Ames Lab personnel engage in a cover-up of this illegal disposal? Also, remember that there were three contaminated areas of unknown origin at the chemical disposal site, and possibly there is a connection to seven contaminated areas of unknown origin at the Fire Service Institute north of ISU campus.

Further, this kind of contemptuous, illegal storage and disposal of hazardous materials has been ongoing under the same leadership at Ames Lab.

As recently as 1994, Ames Lab was cited for eleven different waste violations, including illegal storage and failure to train employees in waste management. A fine is pending for an as yet undisclosed amount by the EPA for the latter count. At the same time Ames Lab was claiming safety, openness and truthfulness at the public meetings.

I challenge Ames citizens and the City Council, ISU officials, the DOE, the State of lowa and all members of the Citizen’s Advisory Group to become much more informed by investigating these issues. There may be cause to file criminal charges.

And, finally, since Ames Lab personnel have not been able to tell the truth in these open public meetings, the citizens should demand testimony under oath.

Larry Myer

Lab of Mechanics

lowa State University