Environmental Research Foundation . . P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 . .
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To subscribe, E-mail the words . . But the federal government is still struggling to measure the level of contamination and has little idea of how to contain the danger. Wind, rain, birds, animals, and underground water flow can all spread the radioactivity to the Columbia River, which forms one border of the reservation, and even further afield. Poisonous substances dumped on land have penetrated deep into underground currents of water, threatening nearby streams or drinking water wells. The half-life of a radioactive element is the time it takes for half of it to change into a less harmful substance via natural radioactive decay.