• Courtney (she/her/they) @lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    66·
    10 hours ago

    I live near a radioactive area that almost no body knows about.

    The only reason I know about it is because a buddy of mine let me borrow one of those small Geiger counters you clip to a bag, or vest, and when hiking one day started getting a higher beep rate when walking past one small valley. So naturally I went off trail to follow the potentially deadly radiation.

    Well after the counter started beeping at an alarming rate at me out of nowhere I just decided I didn’t feel needing a hospital, and booked it to the car. No bump on the counter on any clothing or boots, so no material was disturbed and tracked around at least.

    I’m not 100% certain where I was as I had been hiking for several hours, but I absolutely want to go back with a few people and see if I can find it again, cause there were no markers I could see, and if it’s an unknown area, that presents a problem that some nuclear regulatory agency or other should be looking into.

    • snoons@lemmy.caEnglish
      56·
      10 hours ago

      There are natural sources of radiation, but enough radiation to make your googoogaga meter go babies is certainly cause for concern.

      • Courtney (she/her/they) @lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        17·
        9 hours ago

        I’ve actually thought about bringing my mesh radio for GPS coordinates and buying my own clip Geiger counter just so I can go find it. It’s been a few years, and I haven’t heard anything about it, nor can I find anything online. Iwas pretty far out on unmarked but well-traveled trails, and didn’t have a GPS or the mind to keep track of all the forks. The trails are also not on a map, so I’ll have to make my own or borrow a GPS that will keep track of my trail…

        Damn, even looking at terrain maps isn’t as helpful as you’d think.

        • TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPMEnglish
          4·
          4 hours ago

          You should totally look for it again. It could be some sort of dispersed contamination, or if since you didn’t find anything on your boots, it could be an orphan source that got dumped in the valley. So long as you don’t spend too much time there, it should be safe.

          • Courtney (she/her/they) @lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
            1·
            2 hours ago

            Going over the history of the area, I can’t fathom any “real” source of radiation, certainly nobody is hauling medical equipment that far or trying to hide a dump. The last buildings I was aware that got built that far out were pre-1900s and I’ve found most of their foundations.

            I 100% want to get my own counter (no longer friends with the person I borrowed from since they turned into a huge bigot) if only just to prove to myself I’m not crazy and the thing really was beeping. No idea what type of radiation, as it didn’t differentiate between the types, for all I know I could have stumbled on an old banana dumping site lol

            Honestly I might take a drone out and fly low over the canopy to see if I get any spikes in any of the valleys I can reach.

            I will 100% have to make a post if I can find it again. Especially if I ever find out what it was.

  • bedwyr@piefed.caEnglish
    11·
    8 hours ago

    To play devil’s advocate, natural anthrax is nothing like weaponized anthrax. It’s fine, probably, and antibiotics cure it. Still though.

    • InputZero@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      6 hours ago

      I don’t think people realize that the bacteria that cause Anthrax exists in small quantities anywhere there is soil. All of us were probably exposed to at least some Bacillus anthracis bacteria today. It’s the dose that makes the poison.

    • Lumidaub@feddit.orgEnglish
      14·
      11 hours ago

      Says so on the image, “a real place”. What more information could you possibly need? /s

    • pbjelly@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      8 hours ago

      I can’t quite sleuth it well enough, but it appears there’s lots of places like this.

      One example is in Kaua’i. It’s too inland of a location compared to the image posted though.

  • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    9 hours ago

    Here I thought all the parks converted from superfund sites here in NJ were wild. Those anthrax spores can survive buried indefinitely depending on the climate.

    • bedwyr@piefed.caEnglish
      2·
      3 hours ago

      It’s funny in a way around here they like to build condominiums on top of polluted sites.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 hours ago

        That’s happening right down the street from me, actually. It’s my understanding they take the polluted top layers of soil and either bury them somewhere safe nearby or they transport them away.

        • bedwyr@piefed.caEnglish
          2·
          3 hours ago

          They just lay plastic sheeting over the top, put fill in, and build on it at the places I’m familiar with. One of the sites they had to do some remediation sucking out water from the ground to dispose of some of it.