An investigation by The Blade into a Cold War site reveals decades of deception by the federal government and its contractors at the expense of public health and the environment. The investigation included a novel testing effort, in which the Toledo, Ohio, newspaper sampled the tap water of local residents for numerous contaminants and radioactive compounds.
The testing program was the largest and most comprehensive of its kind—more thorough than any previous sampling by regulators.
In addition, The Blade scoured thousands of previously classified government documents to piece together the untold story of how government officials, eager for wartime materials, turned a blind eye toward worker safety and community health.
These records include a behind-the-scenes transcript of Atomic Energy Commission officials and industry representatives debating whether workers' lives should be sacrificed to produce the strategic metal beryllium for atomic weapons.
Other documents show that, over a 70-year span, government and industry leaders violated health standards, downplayed occupational risks, ignored environmental red flags, concealed risks from residents, and repeatedly broke promises of improved worker and environmental safeguards.
