In Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties, in south-central Washington State, irrigation and drinking water may come from rivers and streams. But, in many cases, this all important water for irrigation and drinking purposes comes from a large aquifer system. A map linked here shows the general extents of this large aquifer system, plus its location within the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Another map, linked here, looks at the aquifer system and adds one more very important feature. Just to the left of center is a darker colored area. That area is the world famous Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

There is a rather large feature in the Hanford Nuclear Reservation which we should now consider. That is the elevated Central Plateau. This elevated Central Plateau is shown using a gray color in a map linked here. On this elevated Central Plateau are two areas which are very important to this discussion, especially when it comes to birth defects and various health issues. These are the 200 West Area and the 200 East Area, which are shown on a map linked here. Both of these 200 Areas currently have their tank farms which are leaking radioactive materials into the ground, groundwater and regional aquifer system. But, there is a lot more to this story. There is something very important, which needs to be considered.

During the plutonium production years at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a whole lot of radioactive wastes were disposed of in a very bad way. There was about 440 billion gallons of radioactive waste --- at least which we know of so far --- which was dumped into the ground, plus forcibly pumped into the groundwater and into that very important regional aquifer system. Now, that 440 billion gallons of radioactive waste may be somewhat hard to visualize, so two adjoining sections in a very large page about Hanford, give some comparisons which may be easier to visualize. The first section should be accessible via either of the following links: (1)(2). The second section should be accessible via either of these links: (1)(2).

There is something very important to now consider. When that 440 billion gallons of radioactive waste was dumped into the ground and forced into the groundwater and that regional aquifer system, it had to go someplace. It did not just sit in a pool in some immense void in the ground beneath the 200 Areas at Hanford. It absolutely could not just sit there in the ground beneath the 200 Areas, but had to move elsewhere! Why it this? Well, it had to go someplace because it was put into the ground in those 200 Areas on the elevated central plateau at Hanford, and things tend to run downhill. So, to get a better understanding of what happened to that 440 billion gallons of radioactive waste let us begin to look at the rest of the story.

⬤   Looking in a southerly direction from the 200 Areas at Hanford, it is found that these 200 Areas are about 245 feet higher than the surface of the Yakima River by Benton City, WA.

⬤   Again, looking southward, those elevated 200 Areas at Hanford are about 290 feet higher than the surface of the Yakima River about 10 miles downstream from Benton City at Horn Rapids.

⬤   Looking eastward, those elevated 200 Areas at Hanford are about 352 feet higher than the surface of the Columbia River at the old Hanford townsite, at the eastern margin of the nuclear reservation.

Because of the elevation differences, simple hydraulics would say that those 440 billion gallons of radioactive waste put into the ground, groundwater and regional aquifer system --- from which comes irrigation and drinking water --- absolutely would have had to go somewhere, even outside of the boundaries of the Hanford site. Well, there truly is more to this story than is commonly told to the general public. Besides a large share of this radioactive contamination going into the Yakima River via fault lines and the buried bed of the ancestral Columbia River, plus into the present day Columbia River itself, much of this radioactive waste appears to have spread far and wide in that regional aquifer system. So, how do we know this?

In a very large page about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which page was noted earlier, is a section which speaks about radioactivity which showed up in the Benton City water wells in mid 1947. This section in the large page should be accessible via either of these links: (1)(2). That radioactive waste which got into the Benton City water wells started to be dumped into the ground, plus pumped into the groundwater and aquifer system at the 200 Areas of Hanford in early 1945. Now, Benton City is about 20 miles south of the 200 Areas at Hanford. That means that this radioactive waste traveled about 20 miles in 2-1/2 years, or spread southward at the average rate of 8 miles per year. But, there is more to this story.

An article linked here it titled Hanford: America's Nuclear Graveyard. On PDF page 4 of 10 in that article, it indicates that already, decades ago, radioactive contamination from Hanford had crossed under the Columbia River to farm wells on the east side of the river. It is indicated that radioactive contamination had knowingly moved eastward, outside of the boundaries of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The writer has seen no documentation which indicates just how fast the radioactive contamination from Hanford was actually spreading to the east. All the writer can say is that the linked documentation seen so far has the radioactive contaminants from Hanford spreading out in at least the southerly and easterly directions.

At this point, there are some important questions to ask. Is there any documentation which may indicate that radioactive contamination from Hanford spread out in all directions in the vast, regional aquifer system? And, looking further, is there any documentation which may indicate that radioactive contamination spread far and wide, radioactively contaminating virtually the whole aquifer system? Well, one indicator for the spread of radionuclides in the aquifer system, from which comes irrigation and drinking water, may be that high rate of serious and deadly birth defects, notably anecephaly, in the region surrounding the Hanford nuclear site. So, it is time to begin looking closely at some documentation.

Take another look at those maps of the regional aquifer system, which are found at the following links: (1)(2)(3)(4). Make a good mental note of the general area and extent of this vast, regional aquifer system, from which comes irrigation and drinking water. Now, open a document from the Washington State Department of Health (WSDOH), which is linked here. This document is titled Neural Tube Defect Investigation in Benton, Franklin and Yakima Counties, 2010-2016, and is identified as DOH Pub 210-092 September 2017. In this document, scroll down to PDF page 33 of 83, for there is something important which needs to be considered.

At the bottom of PDF page 33 of 83, in the WSDOH document linked above, is found an important map. This map has the following title: Figure 7: Anencephaly 2005-2014: Most Likely Spatio-Temporal Cluster." The text in the paragraph above the map states the following: "Figure 7 shows a statistically significant cluster that includes most of Eastern Washington for 2008-2012. The risk of anencephaly in this area was 2.4 times the risk of anencephaly in Washington State outside this area." Once again, take a close look at that Figure 7: Anencephaly 2005-2014 map. Look at that area covered with red.

Once you have a good picture in your mind of the high-rate area shown by that Anencephaly map, then look again at the maps of the regional aquifer system, which are found at the following links: (1)(2)(3)(4), which show the area and extent of the vast aquifer system in Washington. It appears that the red area on the Anencephaly map does a reasonably good job of matching up with the area of the aquifer shown on those maps for the regional aquifer system. Are all of these maps working together to tell us something important? Are they indicating that there may be a relationship between the radioactive contamination from Hanford in the aquifer system, and that high rate of anencephaly in the region surrounding Hanford?

Information about many more problems or health issues which the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has caused in the surrounding region can be found in a very large page accessed via either of the following links: (1)(2). That page is titled The Hanford Nuclear Report. It is said to be The "Ultimate Guide" to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, for the Average Citizen. Information about birth defects and anencephaly, plus things about radiation having an effect on them, can be found in the following section of that large page, which should be accessible via either of the following links: (1)(2). From the linked section in that page, read downward through at least the next nine sections which follow.

In that large Hanford page, there is a section titled Looking Closer at Tritium, which should be accessible via either of the following links: (1)(2). That section speaks about central nervous system (CNS) birth defects caused by tritium, such as anencephaly, microcephaly, and spina bifida with hydrocephalus. That section indicates that tritium can be a problem when inhaled or swallowed. The section which then follows is titled Tritium in the Aquifer. That section is about the regional aquifer system surrounding Hanford. It should be noted that at Hanford, there is groundwater which has proven to be 400 times greater than the federal safe drinking water standard for tritium.

From the information presented in the paragraphs above, it does appear that at least tritium, which is in the aquifer, may be a factor in those serious and deadly birth defects in the region surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. In this region, the internalization of at least tritium is not just a one time occurrence. As people drink tritiated water and eat food products which contain organically-bound tritium, the intake and internalization of tritium, plus potentially other chelated radionuclides from Hanford, becomes a situation of chronic exposure to the effects of internalized radioactive materials. And, as it is commonly understood, the exposures to even low doses of ionizing radiation are cumulative.

A page linked here declares: "A number of independent researchers have demonstrated that long-term, relatively low levels of radiation may wreak up to 1000 times more biological havoc than the currently accepted 'risk levels' that are being used as reference points for decisions about licensing and operating nuclear plants." The page declares further: "In 1972, a researcher in Canada, Dr. Abram Petkau, found that when cells were irradiated slowly, a smaller total dose was needed to cause damage. Since this critical discovery it has been verified that a small dose of radiation over a long time is more damaging than one larger dose."

Looking again at that aquifer system in the Hanford region, it appears that people who continually drink the water or eat food crops irrigated with that water may be getting steady, low doses of internalized radiation. Speaking of radiation exposure, a page linked here states the following: "The principal biological effect of radiation exposure is the break-down of cell structure. Oddly, radiation damage can be more serious at low levels than at high ones." Regarding radiation exposure, the linked page goes on to state:

"High doses kill the body's cells, and for disease to develop, cells must be alive. Rarely killing a cell outright, low-level radiation scrambles cellular chemistry, rearranges genetic information, and leaves the cell vulnerable to the invasion of viruses, from common flus to more serious pathogens, like those associated with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome. Depending on the location of mutation, cellular disorganization can lead to rheumatic arthritis, leukemia, cancer, premature aging, sterility, premature births, congenital defects, cataracts, and death."

A document linked here, on PDF page 9 of 57, states that "low level radiation injures cell membranes, depresses the immune system and causes chronic fatigue syndrome." Section 1, which then follows is titled Low-dose radiation damages cell membranes -- The Petkau Effect. That section declares: "At the slow-dose rate of 0.001 rad per minute (a rad is the amount of radiation absorbed by exposed material), it takes only 0.7 rad to destroy a cell membrane. At a high or fast-dose rate of 26 rad per minute, it takes a total of 3,500 rads to accomplish this."

Regarding low-level radiation exposure and that Petkau effect which is noted in the paragraph above, the document therein linked, in Section 1 of Appendix A, found on PDF page 45 of 57, states: "With the low dose (slow dose) rate, free radicals of oxygen are produced by the ionizing radiation. There are fewer free radicals produced by the low dose and they are able to reach and interact with the cell membrane in a way that the densely populated free radicals resulting from the high radiation dose cannot." Why is this?

Section 1, noted in the paragraph above, goes on to explain: "The free radicals coming from the low dose radiation are attracted to the cell membrane by a small electric charge in the cell membrane early on in the reaction of the total low dose. Petkau found through computer calculations that this attraction is reduced with greater numbers of free radicals. The Petkau effect is an indirect effect of low-level radiation."

Chronic, low-level ionizing radiation is what people are often dealing with who drink water out of an aquifer which has been contaminated with tritium and/or a variety of other chelated radionuclides. Chronic, low-level ionizing radiation is what people are often dealing with who drink and internalize tritiated water out of an aquifer which has been contaminated with a tritium level that is up to 400 times above the federal safe drinking water standard for tritium. The contaminated aquifer in the region surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation appears to fit this description. But, there is more to this story.

Internalized, potentially DNA zapping, low-level ionizing radiation is what people are often dealing with who eat food products or drink wine produced from crops which have been irrigated from an aquifer with tritiated water, or which have been irrigated with water that contains other chelated radionuclides or radioactive waste. It appears that the food products from, and the contaminated aquifer in, the region surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation would fit this description.

So, in closing, there is something which should be seriously considered. Possibly that contaminated regional aquifer system may be a sizable factor in those serious and deadly birth defects in the region, plus a factor in those cancers and other health issues which people seem to be experiencing.