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John E. Conover, Jr., P.E.
Wholistic Environmental Consulting, Ltd.
Post Office Box 246
Stony Brook, Long Island, New York
11790-0246,  (631) 428-6473
E-mail: jconoverjr11790@yahoo.com

Please note that we cannot work in New York State
Anyplace else in the world is OK!

  One day the boss said- "The Mayor of Glen Oaks asked us to accompany him and the health department to tour the bankrupt tungsten mill- the owners just skipped town and left everything behind. The Mayor wants to know if there any environmental problems at the site.

Usually, when you visit a site with unknown hazards, you need to bring portable instruments that can test the air for hazardous chemicals , flammables, radioactivity, etc.. At that time, working for the state government, we had not yet been given any funds to buy such equipment.

I called the county health guy, and he said he would bring an HNU meter, which could test the air for volatile chemicals as we walked. I did not want to go empty handed so I borrowed an old civil defense geiger counter from the guys in the air pollution unit. The batteries were dead so I stopped on the way and bought six D batteries at the hardware store in Glen Oaks. When I was walking out of the hardware store and getting in my state car(with the DEC logo on the door), the pet store guy came up to me and started asking me about DEC regulations regarding the importation of exotic birds- I said how the heck should I know- I am on my way to a tungsten mill with a 40 year old geiger counter!!

So, anyway, we toured the place with the mayor. It was a big mess. The laboratory was filled with assorted bottles of this and that, some very dangerous, perhaps explosive.

There were decaying drums of tungsten ore all over the place.

There was a giant leaking tank of pressurized ammonia.

And more! And guess what- I found radioactivity in some of the drums of ore!

We left, called the EPA- they took over the site- they fenced it off, posted a guard 24 hours a day, and commenced an emergency removal action. Some time later, I was in the neighborhood and I dropped in to see how it was going- I visited the EPA guys- they had an office trailer set up on site- I asked them if I could see the progress on the cleanup- they said ok but you will have to wear all of the protective clothing and a respirator and I wasn’t supposed to wear a respirator unless I shaved off my beard. I said no shave today guys but you keep up the good work!

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The Disappearing Landfill
Home   w     Introduction   w     Services   w     John's Resume    w Carl's Resume
Experience    w    Chloroform Incident  w     Garbage barge    w     Tungsten Mill
Radio Transmitter   w     Perc Plume   w  Jimmy the Dry Cleaner
The Exploding Drum w     The Case of the Missing Screwdriver  w    The Parathion Spill  w     More Photos
cadmium & radiation