Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part II (New Braunfels: cabins, phone service)

[huckster]

B-36's circling and dusting? Doesn't sound good. I lived very nearby you Trap.

Our house, was at Utopia Rd. and Pecan Valley Rd. perhaps two miles away from Brooks A.F.B.
and a couple of miles from yours. I went to Forbes Elementary on Avondale. How old are you?
I know we had the same Physician. Dr. Gray. Enough said already.
Pecan Valley Rd. was called Blackwood Rd. however back then, in the sixties. I don't remember a B-36 circling and dusting, but I believe it.
There were always aircraft circling overhead of our house back then so this would have seemed very ordinary, not unordinary. The airdraft circling never stopped.
Those noisy , huge, old propeller driven craft circling Brooks A.F.B. is one of those unforgettable childhood memories that were planted into my young mind. Always, always, circling for a landing. Day and night.Lights flashing from underneath and water tower lights , green and white, flashing too. The orange and white tower lights could be seen all over. I remember trying to sleep and seeing the lights at night in the dark out the window.
The insanely loud overhead sonic booms made by accelerating fighter craft were always a big surprise.
IN those days one could not escape circling Govt. overhead aircraft it seemed.

Originally Posted by TrapperL

I remember the Medina Base explosion.We lived at Goliad and Avondale which is not exactly across the street from it. We had several window glass cracks and we could could see a mushroom. Looked like the Hiroshima bomb mushroom. That's what most probably saw and thought it was a nuke gone bad. AFter that though, we also had lots of planes over head including a B36 which was not common around here. We watched late in the evening as it looked like he was laying down a spray, like a crop duster over the entire southside, in a grid. My parents both thought the Gov't was spraying the area due to the explosion. I have no clue if he was spraying or if it was exhaust from the plane but considering how low he was to the ground, I doubt exhaust. We had military come around the neighborhood with some kind of gadget that they would take soil samples after the B36 spray. Since nobody died we assume it was a bunker of explosives and maybe had hazardous materials in with it. The entire thing was over in 3 days. Never will forget how a low flying B36 could vibrate the ground so...and loud too. Only time I ever got to see one fly.

[Boss Rider]

Huckster and others: As I wrote here a couple of years ago, I was on the Navy Nuclear Emergency team that responded to the Medina incident. We walked into the site about 12 hours after it had happened, not knowing what to expect, and found to our relief that it was all depleted uranium, and no fissile material at all. It was virtually all surface contamination, and was fairly easy to remove, pack, and truck off the site for disposal. It took about 30 hours in total, and then people from the Texas Department of Health and US Public Health Service took over and monitored on-site and downwind, reporting no radiation detectable above nominal background levels, and no traces of vaporized uranium. The Atomic Energy Commission followed that up with a heavily instrumented plane from their site in Colorado that did airborne surveys and air sampling over the entire San Antonio metropolitan area, also reporting nothing over normal background. The whole incident was reviewed again in 2000 & 2002 in response to a class action suit filed by the Pantex workers on the base about conditions in general at Medina, and found no contamination of personnel. There was a lot more going on at Medina than just the operation that ended in the explosion. If you want references, I'll provide the document numbers.

[huckster]

Was it you ? I did not remember who it was, who posted here, their insider version of this explosion.
We tossed this subject around a little I remember asking questions on it.
It must have been a relief, I imagine, to discover it was a non-lethal uranium contamination I would bet.
The depleted uranium I read about could only have been deadly if ingested, as in eaten, the record said.
Noone kept track of where that contaminated soil that was removed off site went, however. Where was this soil disposed of ? In the landfill @ Pinn Rd. and Commerce very near Lackland that was open back for business back then? Well it's buried now and can't do any harm I suppose. Unless the contamination were to leach into the aquifer or a water well closeby. The account I read stated contaminated soils destination was a mystery. You mention the soil was packaged, so it seems as though elaborate precautions were taken.
In those days , the sixties , anything and everything was simply put into the ground to be rid of it of site with little precaution or concerns of containment or future contamination. Just toss it into a hole and forget it. Kelly Field put all sorts of carcinogenic chemicals into the creek there for years.

I have been on contamination remediation sites myself. So I wonder. Funny how all the contamination managed to remain on site. There must have been privacy a fence up to keep the explosion contained.
Did you help scrape the stuff up?
The Govt. performed the contaminated soil removal I suppose ?
I would be very interested to read the documents you write of, if listed Rider.

Originally Posted by Boss Rider

Huckster and others: As I for one wrote here a couple of years ago, I was on the Navy Nuclear Emergency team that responded to the Medina incident. We walked into the site about 12 hours after it had happened, not knowing what to expect, and found to our relief that it was all depleted uranium, and no fissile material at all. It was virtually all surface contamination, and was fairly easy to remove, pack, and truck off the site for disposal. It took about 30 hours in total, and then people from the Texas Department of Health and US Public Health Service took over and monitored on-site and downwind, reporting no radiation detectable above nominal background levels, and no traces of vaporized uranium. The Atomic Energy Commission followed that up with a heavily instrumented plane from their site in Colorado that did airborne surveys and air sampling over the entire San Antonio metropolitan area, also reporting nothing over normal background. The whole incident was reviewed again in 2000 & 2002 in response to a class action suit filed by the Pantex workers on the base about conditions in general at Medina, and found no contamination of personnel. There was a lot more going on at Medina than just the operation that ended in the explosion. If you want references, I'll provide the document numbers.

[Deep Forest]

Thanks for setting the record straight Boss Rider. At least most of the information related to me was correct.

[SATX56]

Hot Wells Resort to be rescued from ruin....

The plans for the park include trailheads and several educational opportunities including a community garden. The initial phase of construction should begin in four to six months and the total project should take 30 months at a combined cost of just over $6.4 million with most of the money coming from the county and the rest from private donations.

Hot Wells Conservancy celebrates next step to save ruins
It's about time.

[SATX56]

Ghost tracks will soon have parallel track for added danger. If the kids push you past one track the train on the next track may get you.

San Antonio's famed 'Ghost Tracks' getting an upgrade

[Deep Forest]

Originally Posted by SATX56

Ghost tracks will soon have parallel track for added danger. If the kids push you past one track the train on the next track may get you.

San Antonio's famed 'Ghost Tracks' getting an upgrade

The railroad cancelled the upgrade for the time being...roadway is open at that crossing.

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by Deep Forest

The railroad cancelled the upgrade for the time being...roadway is open at that crossing.

Are the little kids still there? I haven't been down there for a couple months. But they are piling up the ties at the tracks at Military near S.Presa. They're also clearing the lot at the SW corner of SE Military and S.Presa. Nix had a sign up on the SE corner for a short time about a new clinic then it disappeared. The old TXDOT facility is being cleared though it appears.

Someone mentioned the new Wal-Mart at E.Southcross & Pecan Valley Dr. Now one has popped up surprisingly, of all places, across from the old Goodwill (now Guadalupe Lumber) on Pleasanton Road. Downsized grocery predominate stores. That means Harlan's (old Handy Andy) at Formosa and Pleasanton is doomed. Good riddance as they have (ice-house) convenience store prices.

[SATX56]

The original story said they expected to be done with the tracks by Oct 1st. Looks like they didn't make it. Surprised they'd delay it for the reasons stated. So Halloween-ers and ghost chasers could enjoy. Oh well.

[Deep Forest]

Originally Posted by SATX56

The original story said they expected to be done with the tracks by Oct 1st. Looks like they didn't make it. Surprised they'd delay it for the reasons stated. So Halloween-ers and ghost chasers could enjoy. Oh well.

Sounds good as any......