PARTON 6

 1979 he received a letter and information packet outlining general information pertaining to the site. The letter contained a line that stated:
“Please note that the copies of newspaper articles are included only as evidence of media coverage, as some of the reporters have taken a certain amount of poetic license with the facts.” (7) 
       The implication here was that if the media had been aware of the Page Ranch dumping site, why wasn’t Pinal County? The information packet accompanying the letter was geared towards educating and calming the Pinal County elected officials. Information such as:
“During the period 1962-1967 burial frequency ranged from 0 to 7 burials per year. From 1968 to the present, burials have been performed virtually on a monthly basis.”

and:

“During the past 12 months, the monthly disposal has averaged as follows: 

Total Nuclide Activity ~ 70 milliuries 

Total Weight ~ 3600 lbs 

Total Volume ~ 370 cubic Feet 

Total items ~ 300 

The nuclide composition of waste disposed averages ~ 90% tritium (3h) and carbon14 (14c). The current activity of all materials buried at the burial site now includes over 99.9% tritium and carbon-14. The half-lives of 3h and 14c are 12.3 and 5730 years respectively.”(7) 

       Using the UA’s own figures, this means that in over a year’s time 43,200 pounds (or 4,440 cubic feet) of radio-active material was being dumped in unlined holes in Pinal County, waste that would be radio-active for thousands of years. 

       While the material provided for Supervisor Mathieson did disclose information that to many would be considered alarming, it also omitted certain facts. One glaring