The Alamedan: City, citizen group question Alameda Point cleanup proposal, October 11, 2012

Excerpt:

City officials and a citizen group are questioning the Navy’s proposed plan to address the risks posed by radioactive paint and other toxic chemicals that lie under a group of buildings at the heart of Alameda Point, saying the Navy focused too much on cleanup costs in creating its plan and questioning whether they know enough about what contaminants are in the ground to move forward with it.

Both city officials and the citizen Restoration Advisory Board that is overseeing Point cleanup efforts wants the Navy to undertake a more extensive cleanup of the industrial center of the Navy’s former operation, a 53-acre site that includes a 910,382-square-foot building on West Tower Avenue where the Navy’s airplanes were cleaned and maintained; a missile rework facility; and a former power plant.

"The city wants the Navy to conduct further investigation to better design the specifics of removal - bottom line is the city wishes to remove radiological contamination irrespective of cost," said Dina Tasini, the city’s acting chief operating officer for Alameda Point. "Removal of radiological material will insure no human health risk."

A Navy representative denied putting cost ahead of safety.