anyone know anything about the Sellersville radium plants from the early 1900's? otherwise known as the Radium Company of America? Sellersville is in southeast Pennsylvania. Trying to learn more about it. It's supposedly a big cover-up in this tiny town near me. Couldn't think of where else to post this.
>>952301
All I know is that Radium was the Titanium of its time. Everybody put it on their brand, even if it didn't contain radium
t. Theodore Grey
Also, I could barely find anything about it on the internet. Apparently it was a site for mining uranium, and some of said uranium slipped into a a lake around here that turned the water a bright orange during the early 1900's. That's about as much as I was able to find out.
>>952320
That's interesting, considering it's a fairly deadly element.
Ferry, Joseph P., “DEP to Begin Cleanup in Sellersville; 3,000 Cubic Yards of Soil Contaminated by Radioactivity Will Be Excavated in a $1.7 Million Project,” Allentown Morning Call, August 16, 1996, http://articles.mcall.com/1996-08-16/news/3105359_1_radium-contaminated-goldberg.
^ Etheridge, A.C., "Engineer Recalls First Visit to White Room," Perkasie News Herald, October 28, 1992.
^ Duhigg, C., Ericson, M., Evans, T., Hamman, B., Willis, D. “Toxic Waters.” New York Times. December 16, 2009. Published testing data from Sellersville Boro Water Works obtained by the Environmental Working Group exposed serious industrial contamination of Sellersville's municipal water supply that had been removed from all public disclosure provided by Sellersville Borough, the Bucks County Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency throughout each entity's oversight of said water supplier.
^ Halliburton Nuclear Utility Services Environmental Corporation. “Final Screening Site Inspection – Inactive Landfill – EPA Work Assignment No. 37-34-3JZZ.” June 16, 1992. Retrieved December 19, 2014 via FOIA Appeal #EPA-HQ-2014-010618 submitted on September 22, 2014, mandating the provision of information requested initially in FOIA Request #EPA-R3-2014-006974 submitted on June 2, 2014. Said report was provided upon appeal...with 58 of its 60 pages fully redacted: https://www.slideshare.net/secret/5sydRQLjXyj4cN .
>>952349
^ Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Administrative Record – AMETEK U.S. Gauge Division, Sellersville, PA. Reporting shows the drilling of groundwater monitoring wells per the directive of the USEPA at AMETEK Plant #2 as bypassing the confined aquifer containing the underground chemical plume and extracting from the confined aquifer beneath where the chemical plume contamination is not present. This creates testing results within “acceptable” range for human health/exposure and is inclusive of wells drilled by AMETEK on the grounds of an adjacent residential subdivision. Retrieved 2012 via Freedom of Information Act Request. Reference page 18: https://www.slideshare.net/secret/9swclB48uWVxl3 .
^ Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Internal Memorandum (excerpt) dated January 22, 2014 acknowledging radiation issues at AMETEK Plant #2, Sellersville, PA. Said issues continue to be denied by Sellersville Borough, Bucks County, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved November 20, 2014 via Freedom of Information Act Request. Reference page 1, highlighted: https://www.slideshare.net/secret/BOVOX3S34Yf7jR .
>>952358
^ United States Census Bureau, 1920. “Home Farm” is listed as the industry for individuals residing at 215 Diamont Street in Sellersville Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Said description was written over the words “Radium Plant” on Sheet 2A, Line 14 of this federal document. Reference addendum 7, page 8: http://www.slideshare.net/Ax318960/freedom-of-information-request-sellersville-borough-1816 .
^ “Sellersville Proud of Its Fame as Home of Big Plant that Now Produces Radium.” Author Unknown. Trenton Evening Times. January 8, 1914. Additional information and newspaper citations: http://www.slideshare.net/Ax318960/trenton-evening-times-january-8-1914 .
^ “WPA Real Estate Survey Reveals Property Line Discrepancies.” Author and Newspaper Unknown. January 24, 1936. Article obtained from the Mercer Museum Library, Doylestown, PA. Additional information: http://www.slideshare.net/Ax318960/removed-posts-and-final-commentary .
>>952340
It was marketed as having curative properties until 1940s-50s.
