U.S. Dumped 47,800 Containers of Radioactive and Toxic Waste Off San Francisco Coast Between 1946 and 1970
Between 1946 and 1970, the United States disposed of approximately 47,800 containers of radioactive waste, along with other toxic materials like cyanides, mercury, and beryllium, into the Pacific Ocean west of San Francisco. Many of these containers, primarily 55-gallon steel drums, were intended to be dumped at designated sites but often missed their targets due to navigation methods of the time. These drums are now scattered across about 1,400 square kilometers of the seafloor, much of it within the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The containers were not designed for permanent containment but rather to transport waste to the ocean floor where currents were expected to dilute it. A 1981 review by the General Accounting Office concluded that 90% of the dumped radioactivity had decayed to negligible levels, though a 1996 study found unusual isotope signatures in fish and mussels from the site, suggesting a different origin than weapons-test fallout. The USS Independence, an aircraft carrier us...
