Lake of the Woods became the scene of a radioactive waste cleanup operation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday, Sept. 18 after World War II-era instrument dials were discovered in a 3,600 sq. ft., abandoned garage on Crable Street.

According to EPA On-Scene Coordinator Robert Wise, the property was abandoned 17 years ago when the ownership of the garage, and its contents, reverted to the Kern County Tax Collector.

Kern County Code Compliance visited the site in July, ordered a cleanup and hired a contractor to haul away the junk. When the contractor arrived at…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

An EPA contractor with a radioactive instrument

Non-radioactive junk is loaded into a dumpster.

An aircraft compass and (right) cabinets full of radioactive instruments

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This is part of the September 22, 2017 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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