© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

UPDATE: Fort Bliss Radiation

A contaminated bunker discovered at Fort Bliss had nearly seven times more than the level of accepted radiation, according to a military report.

The El Paso Times obtained a July 3 report on the bunker at the Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss in El Paso.

The newspaper reported that military inspectors found high levels of uranium in one specific location. University of Texas at El Paso expert John Walton says the amount of contamination was "not huge."

Walton says workers in the bunker may have inhaled or swallowed contaminated paint chips, which would have led to a "very small and limited exposure of soldiers" over a half-century.

That lines up with Fort Bliss officials' statements downplaying the threat of radiation exposure from the bunker.

___

Information from: El Paso Times, http://www.elpasotimes.com

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.