Within California, a unique bay teems with countless creatures, including Dungeness Crabs, shrimp, sea otters, seals, shore crabs, jellyfish, flounders, sea lions, sea stars, clams, anemones, Bat Rays, pelicans, seagulls, shorebirds, egrets, Great Blue Herons, Hermit Crabs, Mole Crabs, barnacles, sea snails, and small, shy and skittish species of fish. One is given the chance to feel weightless and free as they make their way through this refreshing habitat’s thrilling aqua dimension. However, what if there was a ticking time-bomb hiding nearby this sanctuary underground in a concrete casing (northcoastjounal.com), that would contaminate this unique home if released into the water? This may one day be the somber fate of King Salmon’s section of Humboldt Bay. On one of our trips to this bay, my dad had told me that multiple barrels of radioactive rods had been buried under the far shore of the beach that was visible from our location (I had remembered/learned they were rods from northcoastjournal.com), but today (1/16/2022), when we went to visit King Salmon so I could take pictures, my dad corrected himself and stated how the nuclear rods were actually buried somewhere within the hill right next to the King Salmon beach! The reason for this was because a nearby nuclear power plant that used to be active had been shut down (northcoastjournal.com states that this was partly because it had been built on an earthquake fault line), and the excess radioactive rods needed to be stored somewhere. Though this may not seem like a very significant problem, since the radioactive rods are being stored in casks encased in radiation-absorbing material isolated underground in a concrete bunker (northcoastjournal.com), northcoastjournal.com describes how CAB (Community Advisory Board) member Dave Meserve had responded to the topic by stating, “What we have to worry about is major earthquakes and sea level rise. It won’t bother us in our lifetimes but it is going to be an issue in the future.” To make matters worse, Plutonium, a common by-product of nuclear sites, has a half life of about 24,000 years! (northcoastjournal.com) This means that there’s a good chance that the radioactive rods’ contents within the buried dry casks won’t become stabilized for thousands of years! (northcoastjournal.com) The previous activity of the Nuclear Power Plant and its 1970 accident that is said to have exposed nearby communities to an unspecified amount of radiation (northcoastjournal.com), is also why some people consider the nearby neighborhood, Humboldt Hill, to be radioactive; my mom even told me that some people have given it the nickname, “Cancer Hill.” Despite the radioactive rods’ questionable current proximity to the town of King Salmon and its public, the NRC and PG&E don’t really have any other place to legally store the nuclear waste because the federal government hasn’t supplied a nuclear waste dumping site as they had previously promised (northcoastjournal.com). After asking my dad about what he thought about nuclear waste being stored underground, he had stated, “I hope they make sure that the rods are adequately stored to the utmost extent to avoid any potential future problems.” When interviewing my mom about the situation, she stated, “I think the fact that nuclear waste is buried in an eroding hill near King Salmon is very scary. But, since the erosion has been in the news, I believe that Environmental Agencies will be proactive before anything is allowed to seep into the ocean.” My mom also told me that this Power Plant, the Humboldt Bay Power Plant (name learned from northcoastjournal.com), was actually the first Nuclear Power Plant to be built in California! Sometimes when we drive to King Salmon beach, on the way I see ducklings swimming in the small patch of wetlands right next to the deactivated Power Plant. It’s crazy to think that these wetlands used to be right next to an active Power Plant and were exposed to its radiation! I feel that viewers would find this local story important, because a majority of people universally like animals, and a threat to Humboldt Bay is a threat to its animal inhabitants. You may have seen pictures online that display what high exposure to intense radiation can do to a variety of lifeforms. Fans of chemistry may find this story intriguing as well, since many different elements are often used in Nuclear Power Plants and because radioactivity is one of the main aspects of chemistry. Furthermore, if Humboldt bay were to be radioactively contaminated in the future, fishers would no longer be free to enjoy their hobby at the King Salmon beach, boats would be forced to refrain from gliding across the scenic bay’s waves, and swimmers would no longer be able to swim in and explore this wondrous environment. Hopefully, for the safety of the bay and the health of both the communities and animals that rely on it, the buried concrete bunker containing the still-radioactive materials has stayed strong and stable since the earthquake that had occurred over last year’s 2021 winter break.

Sources:

Dad (Curtis Barry)

Mom (Lisa Barry)

https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/radioactive/Content?oid=15128860 “Radioactive”. “NORTH COAST JOURNAL OF POLITICS, PEOPLE & ART” (“NCJ”)