More than 1,000 were left in the ground. Work stopped on the project as Bechtel studied ways to deal with the barrels. Some workers voiced concern when the first barrels were found, Carpenter said. Removal stopped when officials confirmed most or all of them contained uranium shavings, James said. Some barrels also contained oil.
Oil prevents uranium chips from spontaneously igniting when coming in contact with air.
This can happen if the chips are in the right shapes and masses at certain distances from each other. Taylor worked on the project. In January 1999, he discovered that some of the oil he helped add to the barrels contained polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. PCBs have been linked to cancer, nervous system damage and other health problems. Taylor raised questions in January at a routine safety meeting regarding the possibility of the workers handling the barrels in spring 1998 suffering ill effects, Carpenter said.