1979-xx-xx Sabol – Radioactive Waste Investigation Southeast Disposal Area (SEDA)

In 1979, John Richard Sabol, J.D., P.E. located 18 to 20, 55-gallon drums of radioactive waste in the Southeast Disposal Area (SEDA) when he conducted an environmental assessment/investigation of the SEDA for the Air Force.  The Air Force has refused to release any of Dr. Sabol’s records from when he was employed by the Air Force at George AFB.  Additionally, the Air Force failed to provide any of Dr. Sabol’s environmental reports/investigations to, and he was not interviewed by, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) for its Public Health Assessment (PHA) for George AFB.

The Southeast Disposal Area’s RW-09 radioactive disposal site is physically located about a ¼ mile upstream of the Drinking Water Supply Wells for George AFB, Adelanto, CA, several homes, and the former Victor Valley Country Club. Unfortunately, the groundwater flows northeast from the SEDA, directly toward these drinking water supply wells. This created a potential exposure to tens of thousands of civilians, and military personnel and their family members over the years.

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Dear Frank,

In accordance with our past discussions, this letter should serve to summarize the work that I did at George Air Force Base. My period of employment began in June 1976 and ended in 1981 when transferred to Norton Air Force Base. I became the Chief of Environmental and Contract Programming, a new branch of the Air Force. As such, I did much of the preliminary investigations of hazardous waste sites which have been the subject of many subsequent reports.

Sometime in 1979, I did drilling work in a remote desert wash south of the large base bomb dump south of Air Base Road. Within the S.W. portion of Section 36 T6N, R5W, there was located a radioactive site clearly marked and fenced. Subsequent drilling with a 91/2 auger showed x- ray film, glass, wood, A-C gages and other material stored in 55 gal drums. We also found a large area where hydrocarbons cleared from the bottom of bulk storage tanks had been buried. Because of the remoteness of this site and the fact that hazardous wastes had been disposed of over the years, it is possible that other hazardous material placed there escaped our preliminary investigations.

During this time in 1979, the Air Force program was new and money was hard to come by.

I hope that this will provide you with some helpful information.

Best regards,
John R. Sabol, J.D., P.E.”

1979-xx-xx Sabol – Radioactive Waste Investigation Southeast Disposal Area (SEDA).pdf

For more information about Dr. John R. Sabol extensive employment by the US Air Force see:  John R. Sabol, J.D., P.E.