After verifying that the tip was true, Police and firefighters sealed off the area and shut down the airport as radiation meters at first indicated that the uranium could be leaking. The drum, which was filled with radioactive and nonradioactive airplane parts, was near a plane that was being disassembled.
The airport, which did not have the resources to handle such a situation, had to call in the hazardous-response team from Miami International Airport for assistance. After a few hours, the area was declared safe, but neither the fire department, nor the hazmat crew had the resources to dispose of the radioactive material. With no where else to turn, officials called the EPA, and left the clean up and disposal of the materials to the local Department of Environmental Protection. They in turn had to start searching for a contractor who could safely remove and dispose of the material.
While no one was injured and the site is being cleaned, the question still remains, where did the uranium come from? As it turns out, many older model planes used it to balance the plane while it was flying, as well as for some navigational purposes. Someone took these parts off an older model plane, and then, apparently because the cost to properly dispose of it would have been too high, mixed them in with some other parts. From the article, it appeared that no one wanted to take the blame for what happened, with each person passing the blame down the line. While we may never know exactly who did it, at least the mess is being properly disposed of.
Other news in brief:
Police: Man chokes teen over middle finger - If you flick someone off and they start to follow you, for the love of all that is holy, don't stop!
Man tells lawmen his drinking buddy punched him, breaking his hearing aid - That will show him.
Woman arrested for DUI after police find her asleep behind the wheel in Abacoa - She had her child, her cat, and a partridge in a pear tree in the car with her.
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