For decades, a massive Cold War-era plant created weapons next to the small northwest Ohio village of Luckey. Residents of the rural community have long wondered how the former toxic plant might still impact them today.
Now, thanks to an investigation by the Toledo Blade, the community has some answers.
The northwest Ohio newspaper collected 39 samples of well water in Luckey from homes, businesses and schools. They sent the samples to an accredited lab for testing. Nearly half of the water samples showed levels of radioactivity levels ten times the normal amount.
Shortly after the publication of the Blade’s findings, the Ohio EPA announced it will test groundwater in Luckey to assess the public health risk. A spokesperson told the Blade that the contaminant levels found in the newspaper’s samples are “within acceptable drinking standards.”
Blade reporter and Luckey native Alexa York joined the Ohio Newsroom to discuss her findings, and the subsequent action her reporting has sparked.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
On what the Blade’s testing found
“What we focused on primarily in our testing was radioactivity, radiation. And what we found were levels of radiation. It's [a] naturally occurring type of radiation, but it was much higher than what we would expect to see in the area for normally naturally occurring radiation.”
“In addition to that, two of our samples detected a radioactive element called cobalt-60. It's a radioactive kind of normal cobalt, but – unlike what we found in general with the naturally occurring radiation – that one is man-made, so that's not something you would find in nature.”
On the town’s relationship with the plant
“Luckey has a pretty complicated relationship with that plant. I think it means different things for different people who have lived there. Folks who have been around for decades have kind of had a bad feeling about [it], they've seen a change over time. They've seen the cleanup and I think they know that maybe something was up, but they didn't know what. And then folks who've been here a little more recently really don't know anything at all, which has been my experience.”
On public health risk
“That's something that we're hoping state agencies, the Ohio EPA and health department will help get to the bottom of. Of course, the big concern with radiation exposure is going to be a variety of cancers. What we found, which indicated elevated levels of radon, which is a radioactive gas, that would be more lung cancer. I think maybe some gastrointestinal cancers as well.”
“So in terms of citizens coming forward, we have a lot of folks with autoimmune diseases, chronic illnesses, gastro-intestine issues, and then, of course, folks with cancer as well. So it's really interesting seeing all of these people come out of the woodwork and share their stories.”
On the response from public officials
“So far, the reaction from public officials has been outstanding. If I'm recalling correctly, the Ohio EPA reacted on the same day [of publication], and announced that they would be doing some sampling as well in coordination with the health department. So that was fantastic to see.”
“In terms of the decades prior, I feel like this site was just so complicated to clean up. It was just such a big mess. My experience in talking to these government agencies is that no one really knew what they were responsible for. Different agencies are responsible for cleaning up different things. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reached out to the State Health Department and the State EPA. And then in turn, they reached out to the Wood County Health Department. So that collaboration between public officials, I think, is what it takes for something like this.”
Why testing of the water hasn’t happened before
“There's a few different reasons. First of all, as far as I'm aware, the radiation didn't become public knowledge until the late 80s. So up until that point, the average worker, the average Luckey resident, anyone driving by the site didn't know it was radioactive.”
“Another thing with beryllium, which is a big contaminant at that site, it's not radioactive generally, but it's involved with nuclear activities, like at the Luckey site. It's incredibly difficult to clean up. So the Army Corps of Engineers told me that, to their knowledge, this is the first beryllium cleanup ever performed by the federal government.”
“And third, I think it was just that Luckey didn't meet the cost-benefit analysis. You know, it's a town of a thousand people surrounded by farmland. There's nothing around. And I'm guessing it would cost more money to clean up than to just leave it.”
