19 May 2014 12:02 PM:
This is the answer provided by the Almanzora Group who runs Desert Springs:
NOTES ON “THE PALOMARES BOMBS” 31 01 2011
On January 17, 1966, an SAC B-52 had a mid-air collision with a KC-135 tanker, while refuelling over Palomares, Spain. The B-52 was carrying four thermonuclear B28 bombs. The bomber had begun the mission at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. The KC-135 had come from the Moron Air Base, Spain. All four KC-135 crew members were killed, while four of the seven B-52 crew parachuted to safety.
The four bombs fell in a line roughly west to east. None of them had been armed with the codes necessary for their explosion and none fell onto inhabited areas. In reverse order:
1. One fell under its parachute into the sea and was eventually recovered undamaged, with no contamination resulting.
2. One fell under its parachute into the dry bed of the Almanzora river and was recovered undamaged, with no contamination resulting.
3. One fell north of Palomares village, just beyond the old dairy on the edge of the village. Only its detonator went off on impact, resulting in cracking of the casing and causing a very limited amount radiation contamination in the immediate area of its impact.
4. One fell south of Palomares, in a small valley that is just to the south of the cemetery, towards (but not anywhere near) Vera Playa. Again only its detonator went off on impact, resulting in cracking of the casing and causing slightly more radiation contamination in the area of its impact than the other bomb.
There may have been no further spread whatsoever of radiation, but for the initial attempts to clean up by the first army American personnel on the spot, who proceeded to burn the effected vegetation. The smoke resulted in extending the contamination, in each case, in a plume in an easterly direction, downwind, from the two impact sites. Fortunately, the wind strengths were modest and the process was stopped by the arrival of experts from the American Sandia nuclear laboratory.
Subsequently, the most contaminated surface soil was collected into barrels and shipped to a nuclear waste dump in South Carolina in the United States. Low level contaminated soil and vegetation, principally tomato vines, were buried in trenches in the areas of impact. Since then these areas have been monitored by equipment located at the impact sites and in Palomares itself, where it is understood that there had been no reported incidence above recommended safe levels. Nevertheless, it was reported recently that snails in one of the areas of impact have been found with higher levels of contamination and this coupled with increased agricultural activity and development in the region as a whole, although neither on nor adjacent to the impact sites themselves, has resulted in the government finally taking the first steps to re-investigate and eliminate the last remaining vestiges of the incident in the impact areas.
Until recently, the contaminated areas were not even fenced off and remained in private hands; albeit out of use. The contaminated parcels, amounting in total to around 50 hectares, have now been compulsorily purchased and/or occupied and are fenced off. Contamination in these areas has been re-measured, with the object of identifying and clearing all contamination above normal ambient levels. There have been some surprises including hot spots speckled around within these areas. Nevertheless, it is these results that are now to be addressed and their sites to be cleaned up. It was proposed, albeit now some time ago, that the compulsorily purchased land be returned to the Town Hall for public use. The Town Hall presently intends to create small exhibitions, explaining the events, on the impact sites.
As far as Desert Springs is concerned, the very nearest part of the resort is about 1.25 km away from the nearest impact site, across a line of hills, another valley and a plateau. Most important however is that it lies well north of the impact sites; in other words away from the direction of the wind at the time of burning of the contaminated vegetation. It was never part of the original area of contamination, nor de-contamination, nor did this approach its boundaries. Nevertheless, the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Investigations (CIEMAT), a dependency of the Spanish Ministry of Education & Sciences, was contracted specifically to investigate and test samples from the intervening land, lying between the edge of the resort and the nearest impact site, before the resort land was purchased and developed. The results showed that no radiation whatsoever, above normal ambient levels, was present
Likewise the beaches and coast of Palomares and Villaricos village itself, besides being well away from the points of impact of the damaged bombs, were outside of the line and spread of the subsequent wind born contamination.
Furthermore, in the words of CIEMAT concerning the area as a whole:-
“Plan of Environmental Investigation in Palomares”
“… Over the last 40 years, CIEMAT has carried out the continual surveillance of the population and environment of the whole of this area, in accordance with Project Indalo, by means of medical examinations and measured internal testing of the population and control of environmental samples of all kinds. In this time, the values obtained have been situated within the range of normality and do not suppose any significant radiological risk for people.” (Translation of the concluding paragraph of the Press Release, issued on the 1st of February, 2007 by The Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Investigations, Spanish Ministry of Education & Sciences.)
In conclusion therefore, we would confirm that the residual sub-soil contamination is confined to areas, which are now well defined and controlled and are well away from Desert Springs and from other tourism areas, such as the coast of Palomares and Villaricos village itself. Although the serious impact on the contaminated parcels themselves and their ownerships cannot be overestimated, the region as a whole and in general is not directly affected by this incident, nor its consequences.
ENDS
The Almanzora Group Ltd
The Manor
Boddington,
Cheltenham, GL51 0TJ, Glos,
United Kingdom
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