A new investigative report by environmental journalist Lisa Sorg delves deep into the environmental contamination in and around the former Nike missile plant in Burlington, North Carolina and the effects it has on local citizens.
Based on interviews and thousands of pages of documentation, Sorg uncovered that the levels of contamination at the plant are much higher than previously reported and that these contaminants have seeped into the groundwater and disproportionally affect the surrounding community, which is predominantly Black and Latino.
Amongst the more shocking revelations in the article is that in the 1970s an employee at the plant poured the highly radioactive Cesium 137 down a sink drain which emptied out into Burlington's sewer system.
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According to the report the Army, which was supposed to be responsible for the plant's clean up, downplayed the level of contaminates at the plant and buried in the ground around it, including PCE, TCE, PCBs, asbestos, petroleum based fuels, and the above mentioned Cesium 137.
Census findings show that citizens living in East Burlington around the old Nike missile plant have a life expectancy 12 years shorter than those living in West Burlington, although numerous other factors also must be considered such as nutrition, access to health care, etc.
Part 2 of Sorg's environmental report on the plant was released today, discussing the Army's failed clean-up process and the impact on local residents.
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