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Comments

• [1] Jackie from Brooklyn April 30, 2008 - 11:36AM

  I remember the name change campaign from when I worked in Shirley in the 1980's.

  Some of my co-workers and I endorsed the name, "Sh*t Hampton" since that's what the town felt like. Hopefully things are better now.

  
  
• [2] Darius from brooklyn April 30, 2008 - 11:36AM

  I have to admit that I've always held BNL with pretty high esteem since I was a physics major in college. Not to mention the dozens of other national labs all around the country but I've never heard of the health effects from non-power plant localities. I can see how this has been hushed amongst physicists but that needs to change.

  Is this still going on?

  
  
• [3] John Celardo from Fanwood, NJ April 30, 2008 - 11:42AM

  I worked for the National Archives at the NY Federal Records Center during the 70s and 80s. We stored hundreds of boxes of Brookhaven National Lab records, including badge film that the employees wore to detect radiation. In the 1980s the Department of energy withdrew the records, and we never saw them again. Presumably the DOE wanted the records to research the growing number of claims for illnesses employees contracted during their service to the lab.

  
  
• [4] EB from Manhattan April 30, 2008 - 11:44AM

  Fascinating. I can't wait to read this.

  I travel to Brookhaven several times a year to work at the National Synchrotron Light Source at BNL. I've seen what is behind the gates, and even so it is the most mysterious and creepy place I have ever been.

  At least the Windmill Diner makes the trip worthwhile.

  
  
• [5] Daniel Fischer from Stony Brook, Long Island, NY April 30, 2008 - 05:08PM

  I am frequent user of the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This user facility is very friendly and great place to do science that has impact on important areas like medicine and material science. The staff of the NSLS in particular makes the place feel like a home away from home. The research facilities of the NSLS are among the best in the world and attract thousands of users annually who must compete for the privilege of doing experiments! In short the NSLS at Brookhaven Lab. is a National treasure.

  
  
• [6] Anita Cohen from Brookhaven, NY May 01, 2008 - 08:58AM

  My husband and I both grew up in Shirley. Now, we are both retired from long and rewarding careers at BNL. We were contacted by Kelly McMasters a few years ago. She told us she was writing a book and asked us to share our recollections, about Shirley and BNL, positive and negative. We sent her a long and thoughtful letter hoping to convey our love for the “poor man’s paradise” of our youth, and our pride and excitement in being a small part of the amazing research at BNL. She never acknowledged our effort, and we wondered what had happened to her book. Now it appears that she may have had an agenda that our memories did not support – to dredge up every old fear and unsubstantiated claim about BNL, and to present them as true. We have not read the book yet, but based on what we heard Kelly say in this interview, we believe it will prove to be mostly fiction and very little fact about BNL. We urge you to look beyond this book, to learn the truth about BNL’s research and its effect on the environment. Start with the website at www.BNL.gov, and be prepared for a long and fascinating trip. Then, when summer arrives, go to BNL and join a free Summer Sunday tour of the Lab. Then decide for yourself if Kelly has truly written an honest memoir or fashioned a truth-bending work of fiction.

  
  
• [7] Ken Spooner May 24, 2008 - 12:17AM

  As someone who is a recognized historian and former resident of the Shirley area, I was truly looking forward to the arrival of this book. Ms. McMasters contacted me several years ago for both information and potential people to interview for it.

  After reading it, I found it to be historically highly inaccurate and have to say about the only thing I can agree with is that what happened to the Shirley area is indeed a sad tale. But I am also saddened that Ms. McMasters, who is a talented writer, would use her talent to distort history to support her thesis. There are just TOO MANY factual errors and half truths here about the basic history of the town to be dismissed as just sloppy work. Because of that I can only say that her far bigger picture of the enviormental dangers both real and imaginary of having a nuclear facility looming in Shirley's back yard is greatly diminished. If you are interested in an in depth review with many of the books errors pointed out in detail just go to The Knapps Lived Here website and look on the left side of the main page in the green area. Or if this forum allows it, here is the link : http://spoonercentral.com/2008/MyTake.html