The discovery of uranium, a radioactive element, in Rattlesnake Creek, a tributary of Tonawanda's Two Mile Creek, has residents of Riverview Heights concerned.

I find it scary," said Tara Heckman, 26, a Brookside Terrace resident. "I used to play in Two Mile Creek as a kid."

Ms. Heckman and many of her neighbors are concerned after hearing that elevated levels of uranium were found in the intermittent stream. Two Mile Creek is a larger creek which runs from the Town of Tonawanda through residential and commercial property, and into the City of Tonawanda.

Two Mile Creek eventually dumps into the Niagara River at Isle View Park near Two Mile Creek Road.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing study and possible clean up of Rattlesnake Creek, didn't say if any uranium had been detected in Two Mile Creek.

"You know how kids are. I used to sled down there and you would once in a while fall into the water (in Two Mile Creek)," said Ms. Heckman, who is a Fourth Ward council candidate. "In the summer, we'd go down there and catch frogs. Kids still go down there and build forts."

Despite Ms. Heckman's and others' concerns, the corps said the uranium isn't an "immediate threat."

"Because the material is in an isolated area, and the levels of uranium are below the surface, and there is a limited chance of anyone coming in contact with it, the risk is minimal," said David Conboy, the Corps' chief of environmental analysis. "We're assessing the risk for future use. Right now, there is virtually no risk."

The uranium was found buried about 18 inches below the surface of the creek. The corps believes the uranium has been there for many years, and likely migrated from the nearby Ashland II site. The Ashland II site was used to store contaminants produced by Manhattan Project research during World War II. That project led to the construction of the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Contaminants such as radium, thorium and uranium are among the radioactive elements found at the site.

Of the three, the corps only found elevated levels of uranium in Rattle Snake Creek. And this contamination was isolated to the area directly around the cleanup site. The corps was doing soil tests in the area surrounding Ashland II, which is at the center of a remediation project, when the elevated uranium levels were detected.

"The risks are less than they ever were before," Mr. Conboy said.

The Corps is expected to issue another report on the situation within the week.

Tonawanda Mayor Alice Roth, a member of Coalition Against Nuclear waste in Tonawanda (CANiT), said she would support rolling the clean up of the creek into the cleanup plan for the Ashland site.

"I understand why people would be alarmed when they hear something like this," Mayor Roth said. "Certainly, the health and safety of the residents is of the utmost concern of the council, myself and CANIT. We'll follow up on this to see what the report shows and that proper remediation is done."

She said the public will be made aware of the situation as reports are made available by the Corps.

The federal Department of Energy did a study of the Ashland site and Two Mile Creek in the early 1990s, according to Mr. Conboy. It found nothing alarming or needing cleanup. The Corps is expected to do their own follow-up of the Department of Energy's evaluation.

Ms. Heckman learned from talking to her neighbors, that there is a cluster of cases of cancer and multiple sclerosis in the Riverview Heights area.

Sharon Drive resident Mary Dalton said her 41 -year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Ms. Dalton never connected the nearby contamination to her daughter's disease, but did say doctors never gave a definitive cause for the woman's ailment.

"I asked the doctor and he said it was probably a virus, but they don't know what causes it," she said.

Ms. Dalton said the discovery in Rattlesnake Creek is a surprise.

"I thought they'd find contamination at the Spaulding site [1] before they found it here," Ms. Dalton said. "I'm surprised and I certainly hope they clean it out."

Any potential clean up of Rattlesnake Creek will be addressed in the Corps' pending report.

Mr. Conboy said the Corps knew about the elevated uranium levels since Dec. 1998.

"We've identified an isolated area of contamination in December, and have been assessing it," he said.

"We've shared that information with the Department of Environmental Conservation. Recently we've shared that information with CANIT and shared it with the community at the Linde public meeting. We'll continue by sharing the report when it become available possible next week."

Donald Finch, Treasurer of For A Clean Tonawanda Site, Inc. (FACTS), said his group knew about the contamination in Rattlesnake Creek long before this.

"What gets me, how everything is downplayed, that there is no problem," he said. "I'm not saying it's real high, but it's enough to be concerned about for future generations."

Mr. Finch, who's been studying on this project for five years, said determining if people along Two Mile Creek are at risk is a "tough call." He does think people should be informed that there is a potential problem.

"Unfortunately, this whole thing has been downplayed the whole time," he said. "They've been telling people there isn't a problem."

He said many people aren't even aware of the contamination.

William Watson, chairman of the General Environmental Control Board, in the City of Tonawanda, said the Rattlesnake Creek has been a concern of FACTS and other environmental groups.

"The question of radioactivity has been asked several times to DEC and Corps, and the answer has either been I don't know, or that they haven't found any, when asked previous to this," he said. "This would lead me to believe that there is probability that it could be higher in other areas."

He said the creek not only flows through Ashland II, but also the Niagara Landfill, where it goes underground. The Ashland I site is in the creek's drainage basin.

Mr. Watson, a Tonawanda Board of Education member, said he is disappointed the Corps failed to respond to a letter sent to the by the board regarding clean up at the Ashland sites.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

[1] Spaulding: This was a manufacturing facility (Spaulding Fibre Company) located closer to the center of the City of Tonawanda. The factory has been shut down for many years. Tests determined that there is a considerable amount of pollution in the soil surrounding the factory. This pollution was caused by the dumping of the left-over material produced by the manufacturing process.