Military investigating possible radiation hazard at Fort Bliss

Military investigating possible radiation hazard at Fort Bliss
El Paso Times
By Robert Moore
Posted: 07/16/2013

The military is investigating a potential radiation hazard at a Cold War-era nuclear weapons bunker near El Paso, the El Paso Times has learned.

Army officials are discussing the issue at a 9 a.m. news conference today at Fort Bliss. A press release said the purpose of the news conference was to "make an important announcement about the future of Fort Bliss." Post officials had scheduled a similar news conference for last Friday but canceled it the day before.

Fort Bliss spokesman Maj. Joe Buccino said officials currently believe the risk to the broader community was "fairly negligible," though people who worked in the bunker might have more significant risk. One particular worry would be ingestion of chips of epoxy paint that was used to seal off such bunkers, but might have become loose over the years.

An investigation in recent weeks found levels of alpha and beta radiation in the bunker, but not the more-dangerous gamma radiation, Buccino said.

"We sealed it, we closed it off," he said.
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