Kayte Hardison
Betsy Allen
English 101
October 25, 2014
Cause/Effect Paper In the book Full Body Burden, AEC builds a bomb factor called Rocky Flats. At first people did not know what they make at Rocky Flats, but they really didn’t care because it was more job opportunity. The people in this small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats did not realize what big impact Rocky Flats would have on the town. Since they made atomic bombs there, it spread toxic and radioactive waste in the air. Three effects of the radiation coming from the plant includes the residents, animals, and cancer patients. The first effect of radiation coming from the plant is on the residents. The government over the years told the residents that they were safe and not at risk. House values go down because of this contamination. Marcus Church and his family owned most of the land that they wanted to build Rocky Flats on. So the government made the Church family sell them their land. Marcus still owned some the land. Over the years he realized that his family dream of building new homes, malls, and others building, could not go through. They couldn’t get building permits. “Church’s attorneys claim that even though facts regarding the plants contamination are still forthcoming, negative publicity alone has stripped the remaining Church land of its value” (Iversen115). The water is contaminated. AEC told the residents that there would be no nuclear explosion. Elements like strontium and cesium only occur when a nuclear explosion occurs. Testing was done and the elements were found in the water and soil. The next effect of radiation coming from the plant is on the animal. Rocky Flats workers realize there are lots of bunnies on the 903 pad. Rumors get around that the bunnies are hot. “The management has known all alone. A top-secret memo, with the heading CONTAMINATED RABBIT, dates back to January 1962. The rabbits, dissected for analysis, showed high concentration of alpha radiation, particularly in the hind feet” (Iversen 49). Bini Abbott, a local horse woman, begins to worry about how Rocky Flats might be affecting her horses. “She has high hope for one mare in particular, a descendant of a Kentucky Derby winner. The mare has two foals before she has to be put down herself due to health problems” (Iversen 66). After Abbott hears of Ed