A well is flushed with water, shown here, before workers add the iron filings to it. Due to nuclear material testing and lack of environmental regulation during the Cold War era, the SRS property has been contaminated with radioactive material. They didnt want to risk the costly loss of time to shut down reactors, conduct safety checks and restart. The report, released last week by the Environment Georgia Research and . Water pollution occurs when harmful substancesoften chemicals or microorganismscontaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, degrading water quality and . The military prepared for an invasion of Cuba, and Americas intercontinental missiles were readied for launch. Two workers died instantly and radiation poisoning killed 28 more within weeks. All rights reserved. "Everything flows into the Savannah River, so it's a project to help keep the storm drains clean so that the water. From this encounter, regarded as one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution (1775-83), emerged two of Savannah's most notable military heroes, Sergeant William Jasper and Count Casimir Pulaski, both of whom were killed during the unsuccessful assault on the British lines. The goals of the DWQ's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater dischargepermitting regulations and State stormwater programsare to prevent pollution from entering the waters of the state through the use of stormwater runoff controls. Its quite an accomplishment.. The brothers stood under 4 feet, giving them an advantage over taller welders in the often tight constraints involved in building the plant. The Savannah River is the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina. Besides, the high wages and benefits made it worth the risk. At its headwaters in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the climate is quite temperate. In the Cold War era, solvents were used to decontaminate items or prepare equipment for repair. This is a list of crossings of the Savannah River. The vessel is now safely moored, according to the Coast Guard. The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile area located 20 miles south of Aiken was a large producer of nuclear weapon materials during the Cold War. Michael Pronzato/Staff, The last residents left the Savannah River Plant area by early 1952. } The Soviets ordered Warsaw Pact militaries to war status and the U.S. military moved to DEFCON 2, the highest state of nuclear war readiness ever reached. AIKEN, S.C. EM workers recently finished constructing a large underground, water-permeable wall made of recycled iron filings that neutralize Cold War-era chemical solvents found in the aquifer beneath the Savannah River Site. dpardue@postandcourier.com, radioactive dirt were buried at the Savannah River Plant, The remaining mission of the Savannah River Site: Clean-up, Savannah River site in South Carolina will produce plutonium cores for nuclear weapons, Nevada vows to fight plan to store plutonium from SC's Savannah River site, Museum exhibit remembers Cold War life at Savannah River Site nuclear plant, Greenville biscuit restaurant adding a new location in the Upstate, Feb. 28: Prosecutors in Alex Murdaugh double murder trial question additional witnesses, Understand Murdaugh: Questions surrounding the Alex Murdaugh trial (Reader Mailbag), Alex Murdaugh's brother doesn't think investigators have found who killed Maggie, Paul, Alex Murdaugh had badge and blue lights in his car, but says distrust of police fueled lie, Aiken City Council approves agreement moving Silver Bluff Road grocery store forward, Understand Murdaugh: Alex Murdaugh's brother doesn't think investigators have found killer, Couple behind 2 popular Mount Pleasant restaurants opens a 3rd in Charleston, SC port's biggest visitor had some work done on its nose, International African American Museum sets new opening date. Read moreAlex Murdaugh's prosecutors push back on 2-shooter theory in final day of testimony, The Post and Courier Tags: Augusta, environment, Savannah River, Environmental Protection Agency, water pollution, Environment Georgia, industrial pollution, DSM Chemicals, Toxics Release Inventory, Emily Thomas. Mike proved the Teller-Ulam design correct and unleashed the worlds first thermonuclear explosion the hydrogen bomb. And over the next half-century thousands of workers would receive cancer-causing and sometimes deadly exposure to radiation and other hazardous materials. At one point during that arms race, each superpower possessed about 30,000 nuclear bombs, now down to about 7,000each. Then, on Nov. 22, 1955, the sky over the Soviet test site at Semipalatinsk, in what is now Kazakhstan, ignited with a power 100 times that of the first Soviet atomic bomb. They founded two major cities on the river during the colonial era: Savannah was established in 1733 as a seaport on the Atlantic Ocean, and Augusta is located where the river crosses the Fall Line of the Piedmont, at the headwaters of the navigable portion of the river downstream to the ocean. Non-Point Source Pollution is much harder to regulate. This includes Augusta and below. Inside the K Reactor the plutonium sits encased in 500-poundstainless steel cylinders. Hightower would later receive death compensation for his companion of 31 years through the government program begun in 2000. Unsafe and illegal high-level waste management: DOE is leaving large amounts of residual radioactivity from high-level waste in tanks that are being closed by pouring grout into them. The couple suspected the culprit was radiation, but plant officials continued to insist all was safe, especially for employees who worked in operations away from the reactors and radioactive materials. The Savannah River, one of Georgia's longest and largest waterways, defines most of the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina. Some fish also contain the radioisotopes cesium-137 and strontium-90. (SRS YOUTUBE CHANNEL) 01.26.23 Draft Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program Environmental Impact Statement Public Hearings. However, the Savannah Riverkeeper says this problem doesnt overwhelm them. Most had occurred in earlier years when the technology was new and speed was of the essence. Scientists bound for work at the bomb plant now knew they would no longer be working on just a theory. Nevertheless, imminent danger from the superpowers growing arsenals and their nuclear brinkmanship remained. River dredging operations to maintain the Port of Savannah have caused the estuary zone to move further upstream than its historical home. Studies were conducted to show that safeguards at the Savannah River bomb plants reactors wouldnt allow for a repeat of Three Mile Island. The locomotive-sized machines essentially act as car motor radiators to help control the massive heat produced in reactors. Despite construction of more than 200 miles of paved roads, including the first cloverleaf intersection in South Carolina, traffic was horrendous as workers scrambled to get to the round-the-clock construction project. As government bulldozers leveled virtually every structure in the area seized for the plant, American scientists half a world away built a three-story tower on the tiny Pacific island of Elugelab that U.S. troops liberated from the Japanese Empire eight years earlier during World War II. Four others parachuted to safety. They were human hairs, carpet fibers, and crumbs. The next day, the Ellenton elementary school teacher heard another rumor: an H-bomb plant was coming. Dorothy Dandridge found the days preceding the announcement exciting, yet mysterious and unsettling. More than 38,000 pounds of those chemicals are known to cause cancer. The C Reactor is one of the five nuclear reactors at the Savannah River Site, all of which no longer function as reactors. The workers then injected the material into 22 wells above the aquifer. [9][10], Historical and variant names of the Savannah River, as listed by the U.S. Geological Survey, include May River, Westobou River (for the Westo tribe), Kosalu River, Isundiga River, and Girande River, among others. Michael Pronzato/Staff, Signs are posted throughout the Savannah River Site with warnings for radioactive material and contamination on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. And in 1960, a nuclear chain reaction in the L Reactor nearly went out of control. shift=coded.length The confluence also forms Lake Hartwell, a large reservoir built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. File/Efrem Lukatsky/AP, Virginia Anderson at her house in Augusta, Ga. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. GPB Education is headed to the movies with its latest online game for middle and high school students. When Virginia Anderson, 60, went to work at the Savannah River Plant she was told it was one of the safest places anywhere. The National Academy of Sciences panel on the effects of low-level radiation (called the BEIR VII panel) should fully address the non-cancer risks of tritium, and the risks of tritium to pregnant women and developing fetuses. The nations nuclear weapons complex, however, continued to operate in its usual cloak of war secrecy. It offered a respite and a hefty paycheck to boot, so he and his wife, Paula, drove down over Christmas 1954 to check it out.. Deadly legacy: Savannah River site near Aiken one of the most contaminated places on Earth, Chapter Two: Mutually assured destruction, Greenville County school pairs with credit union for financial education, Drinks to your door: SC Senate again considers alcohol delivery, SC House GOP approves asking voters to remove ban on taxes directly aiding private schools, Alex Murdaugh's prosecutors push back on 2-shooter theory in final day of testimony, The Berkeley Independent - Moncks Corner, SC, By Doug Pardue Coming from seven different countriesCzech Republic, France, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, and the United Statesthese artists inspire our own experiences with water in cities. SAVANNAH, Ga. - The 1091-foot motor vessel Maersk Surabaya ran aground in the Savannah River, June 14, 2022. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb depicted a deranged American officer launching a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber attack on the Soviet Union as frantic Americans struggled to call back the jets or help the Soviets shoot them down. DOE should restore and expand environmental monitoring funds to the State of Georgia. GPB is committedto bringing you comprehensive news coverage from Georgia, across the country and around the world. Hes hopeful but believes many of the workers will go to their deaths before their cases are resolved. The cleanup took three months, exposing 900 workers to high levels of radiation. Another prominent feature are the numerous large bluffs that line the river in some locations. Documents filed in that suit provided Hightower with his first thorough accounts of how racism played out for some blue-collar black workers. [1], The Westobou River was the former name of the Savannah River that was derived from the Westo (also known as Westoe) Native Americans. Georgia Public Radio GPTV, Journalist Donna Lowry Joins New Season of GPB's Lawmakers Premiering Monday, January 14 at 7 PM. Below the Fall Line, the river slows and is surrounded by large blackwater bald cypress swamps. On Nov. 1, 1952, Mike erupted with an ear-splitting explosion and a blinding, three-mile-wide fireball. Conference: Pollution prevention at the Savannah River SitePollution prevention at the Savannah River Site A few of the homes would be those that owners jacked up, placed on trailers and hauled from the old town. In 1996, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Vernon River Project The Vernon River is part of the Ogeechee Estuary. It no longer was seen as clean, unlimited electricity. Savannah Spill Response Corporation is a 501 (c) non-profit cooperative that provides our members with the training and resources required to meet OPA 90 requirements. The reactors also were aligned along a long, sharply curved horseshoe shape to prevent a straight-line bomber run. DuPont, the company that helped build the atomic bombs that ended WWII, also was entrusted by the government to build and run the bomb plant. if (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))==-1) { ki (literally, "southerners"). You couldnt even tell your wife what you did. The stewardship team is responsible for the innovative trash trap installed at Nash Run. Unlike most kicked off the land, she was happy to leave. The river supports a large variety of native and introduced aquatic species: Additionally, the river is one of only four left in the southeast with significant populations of Hymenocallis coronaria, the shoals spider-lily. This is a problem considering that over 1.4 million people rely on the river and its tributaries to supply their drinking water. Strangers with purpose scoured Barnwell and Aiken counties. Dr. Strangelove was all too real for Joseph, who worked to design ever more effective ways to manufacture the explosive power of thermonuclear weapons. The U.S. then shipped 1,500 tons of tainted soil back to the states for disposal. Heavy rain can pollute waterways, like the Savannah River. When Carolinians desired to expand their trade to Charleston, they viewed the Westo tribe as an obstacle. Joseph and his fellow engineers, like almost everyone else at the plant, were required to carpool. In 1995 Reines was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for this accomplishment, but Cowen did not live long enough to share it. The Savannah River Plant was recruiting scientists and engineers. [6] The local variants included Shawano, Savano, Savana, and Savannah. About the same time, 13-year-old Dorothy Dandridge trudged along rows of cotton plants to ready the crop for the upcoming harvest. Thats about the same time it took for the U.S. to win the Cold War. Information also was gleaned from government documents, Congressional testimony, newspaper articles, and scientific and medical studies. She suppressed her concerns about radiation exposure and returned to work. Read moreGreenville County school pairs with credit union for financial education, The bill would allow the state to license retailers to perform curbside pickup of alcohol orders and use a delivery service to deliver beer and wine right to customers doors. America had released the power of the sun and once again owned a monopoly on nuclear superiority. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The two skilled welders had been among the actors in the 1939 classic film"The Wizard of Oz" who played the part of Munchkins. Raw water for this plant is withdrawn from the Savannah River. It would make the two key radioactive ingredients necessary to build such a devastating weapon tritium and plutonium. The forced removal was rough on many, but Bush snagged a job at the huge new bomb plant. Shelves and other compartments provided places to stockpile basics the family would need to survive for a couple of weeks. Additional detail came from histories written about the plant and recordings of recollections of workers, engineers and scientists. If you live in Beaufort or Jasper counties, it is your water source, so we need to make sure that the future water of the Lowcountry is safe to drink in the future.". The 55-gallon steel drums of radioactive dirt were buried at the Savannah River Plantin 20-foot-deep unlined trenches. One or more of these programs affects activities in the Savannah River Basin. We contract with Moran Environmental . Tritium contamination in Georgia: Rainfall and groundwater in parts of Georgia across the river from the Savannah River Site are contaminated with tritium from SRS. in Savannah River Basin Augusta-Richmond County Columbia County The preparation of this document was financed in part through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Provisions of Section 319(h) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended. That's how long they thought it would take for the initial radiation from a nuclear bomb to subside enough to safely venture outside. Savannah River Site Strategic Vision: 2021-2031 Overview The SRS, a 310-square-mile-site in Aiken, South Carolina, focused on the production of plutonium and tritium for use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons from its inception in the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War. Tanya Strickland, North Augusta's Stormwater Superintendent, says that pollution comes directly from waste and debris. Technol. In 1965, technicians at C Reactor ignored a warning alarm for 15 minutes before workers noticed that 2,000 gallons of cooling water had poured onto the floor. For many of the black residents, talk of fair compensation didnt mean much. The Savannah bomb plant experts doubled down to refine the American weapon, knowing the Soviets would not rest until they matched its destructive potential. The Unit 4 reactor core at the giant electricity plant melted down and exploded. . The river originates at the confluence of the Seneca and Tugaloo rivers in Hart County in eastern Georgia. They saw little to be learned from the episode. link="" To accomplish this task, Joseph took charge of a group of engineers to restart the plants L Reactor, which had been on stand-by for a decade. And bomb plant engineer Joseph remained certain the technological lead Americas scientists and engineers had built made the Soviets afraid to launch a nuclear attack. We had to figure out what was basically unknown. The Carolina Colony needed the Westo alliance during its early years. GPB Education and the Georgia Council on Economic Education Launch Lights, Camera, Budget! When reflecting on the findings from the note cards, I observed that most of the particles came from non-natural products. More awareness about pollution has also helped, says Jerry Hightower, a park ranger who's spent . Three of the bombers crew also died. The need for that nuclear material ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. She is appealing. It shut down the same year the Cold War ended and was converted to store a large part of the deadly remains of Americas nuclear arsenal. High 82F. The Savannah River Plant, simply called the bomb plant by locals, would not actually assemble the hydrogen bomb. The best times to visit this trail are March through October. As the '50s progressed, the reality of all-out nuclear war began to sink in for the American public. The report used data from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory to analyze levels of dangerous chemicals found in Georgia's waterways. Among those workers were two diminutive brothers, Eugene and Eulie David. One initiated a near Three Mile Island episode when fuel rods melted in the C Reactor as cooling water dropped too low because technicians ignored an automatic reactor shutdown and attempted to restart it three times. On the other side, the most recent data from South Carolina shows that more than 70 percent of the water basin is contaminated, and there could be an entire slew of reasons why: mercury, lead, pollution, run-off. CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL VIDEO RELEASES. And scientists say it takes about 10 half-lives before the radiation is essentially gone. The government allocated $260 million to start construction, compensate property owners, demolish almost every structure, destroy four towns, transplant graves and kick out 6,000 people. The blast rendered an area the size of Rhode Island highly contaminated. It only pushes them forward. The wall is as long as three basketball courts and, on average, about four inches thick, extending 135 feet below the earths surface at its deepest point. Michael Pronzato/Staff, In this Sept. 12, 1958, picture, Beverly Wysocki (top) and Marie Graskamp emerge from a new family-type bomb shelter on display in Milwaukee, Wis. File/AP, Among the Savannah River Site construction workers were Eugene and Eulie David. , Post and Courier, an Evening Post Publishing Newspaper Group. These have similar terms meaning "southerner" and, perhaps, "salt". In Aiken, one family built an underground concrete structure that was sealed off with a steel entrance and had features designed to deflect radiation. Savannah River Site Environmental Surveillance & Oversight Program Current Page Environmental Surveillance & Oversight Program Data Reports The following annual reports provide monitoring data for the Savannah River Site. Pollution of the Savannah River: The Savannah River is contaminated as a result of highly contaminated surface water flowing into it from SRS, though the large flow of the river dilutes the contamination to well within present safe drinking water limits.Tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is the most common radioactive pollutant. the authority to maintain reasonable standards of purity of air and water quality by enactment of the South Carolina Pollution Control Act; and "Whereas, the Savannah River Maritime Commission, hereinafter the Maritime Commission, by enactment of Act 56 in 2007, effective May . Vultures circling overhead attest to its deadly contents. Dorothy Dandridge was one of those people. On the silver screen, Hollywood further stoked fears with apocalyptic movies such as 1959s On the Beach, a film about a journey undertaken by America's sole-surviving nuclear submarine in the aftermath of a nuclear war. Over time, the solvents seeped into the subsurface, contaminating the aquifer. Office of Environmental Management Savannah River Site Fights Contamination With Massive Underground Wall Injecting material containing iron filings into wells at the Savannah River Site is a multi-step process. Industrial expansion and land development increase the risk of further pollution. The massive concrete building appears from the distance like an ancient Mayan tomb. The time it would take for it to be rendered harmless is 240,000 years longer than modern humans have existed. United States, Copyright 2023, Georgia Public Broadcasting. In 1956 Clyde L. Cowan and Frederick Reines detected neutrinos with an experiment carried out at the Savannah River Nuclear Plant, after a preliminary experiment at the Hanford Site. } Fusion unleashes the same force that powers the sun. Dandridge had no way to know it, but that B-29s flight would forever change her life and the lives of thousands in the South Carolina counties of Aiken, Barnwell and Allendale. Just keeping it contained has cost billions of dollars, stands to cost untold billions more and has no end in sight. A report released today by Environment Georgia says the Savannah River is the most polluted river in the state and among the most polluted in the country. The concept for such a powerful bomb had been around for more than a decade, but scientists struggled to find a way to make it work. Now she is trying to win compensation but was told she can't prove her cancer was caused by anything at the plant. In the nineteenth century, the sandy river channel changed frequently, causing numerous steamboat accidents. How much pollution is in the Savannah River? On occasion, he found racist symbols near his work station, such as a hangmans noose. All it took for annihilation was one accident, a split-second miscalculation or a crazy decision as the two superpowers dueled for military superiority. Still, she continued working at the plant until retiring in 2006, returning for a brief period after that. As the bomber disintegrated in mid-air, four H-bombs slipped from the fuselageand screamed toward the Spanish Andalusian coast. Many had been exposed to excessive, sometimes deadly, doses of radiation during the first three decades of the plants operation. As happened after Three Mile Island, the bomb plant ran a number of studies to show how its superior training, equipment and procedures would head off a disaster like the one that occurred at Chernobyl. The routine maneuver went horribly wrongas the B-52 slammed into the tankers fuel umbilical, ripping off the bombers left wing. That was a rare combination in 1967 when he was hired to program plant computers. . Few understood that their cotton fields and pastures soon would yield the worlds deadliest crop. The health implications of I-129 contamination of the Savannah River should be studied, including its effect on pregnant women, and communicated to the public. No injuries or pollution were reported. July 2018 Some data for the savannah River was provided by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Water management in the Savannah River Basin is complicated. U.S. Geological Survey. As a college-educated mathematician and engineer, Hightower had skills the plant needed. By 1987, Congress realized that the Savannah bomb plant and other parts of the nations far-flung nuclear weapons industry were dangerous places leaking, radioactive dumps. Pedestrian killed in crash on Hwy. The Savannah River flows through a variety of climates and ecosystems during its course. The New River, in the northeast corner of the region, is thought to be one of the oldest in the world. The two states arent on the same page about the waterway they share. Pollution of the Savannah River: The Savannah River is contaminated as a result of highly contaminated surface water flowing into it from SRS, though the large flow of the river dilutes the contamination to well within present safe drinking water limits.Tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is the most common radioactive pollutant. The half-life of the plutonium-239 in the K Reactor containment cylinders is 24,000years four times longer than civilization has been around. Recent data shows over 70% of Savannah River is likely contaminated, Tattnall Co. man arrested for death of his stepfather. All of our work falls into these categories. In order to remove the tribe, they sent a group called the Goose Creek Men to arm the Savanna (also known as the Savannah) Indians, a Shawnee tribe, who defeated the Westo in the Westo War of 1680. Revered Atlanta journalist Donna Lowry is joining Lawmakers as a Capitol Correspondent for this seasons coverage of Georgias 2019 legislative session beginning Monday, January 14. Plant engineer Joseph watched as residents in Aiken and Augusta, the two largest cities near the plant, took similar steps to protect their families. [15], Through the building of several locks and dams in the first half of the 20th century (such as the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, completed in 1937 during the Great Depression), and upstream reservoirs like Lake Hartwell, the Savannah River was once navigable by freight barges between Augusta, Georgia (on the Fall Line) and the Atlantic Ocean. When danger threatened he never got hurt. On that January morning, the bomber approached Spain and a 31,000-foot-high rendezvous with a mid-air refueling tanker. Conflicts in oversight, inaccurate assumptions and counter-productive activities resulted in an urgent need for general oversight and coordination. The most significant problem for water quality nationwide is nonpoint source pollution (NPS), which comes from many unknown sources, such as urban and industrial runoff. The plot of The China Syndrome revolved around the possibility that lax safety could trigger the meltdown of a reactor core, unleashing a devastating radioactive explosion as the super-heated core melted through the containment floor and straight down to China. Most black workers at the bomb plant labored in blue-collar jobs, some involving exposure to radioactive and other hazardous wastes. The missile crisis ended peacefully with a negotiated settlement and the immediate withdrawal of Soviet nuclear-armed missiles from Cuba. Yet DOE funding to the State of Georgia for environmental monitoring related to SRS is set to expire April 30, 2004. Injecting material containing iron filings into wells at the Savannah River Site is a multi-step process. The bomber crew had not armed the H-bombs, preventing a nuclear conflagration that would have killed tens of thousands of people in a flash and doomed an untold number to untimely death from radioactive fallout. Plant officials continued to dismiss concerns despite growing evidence of sickness and death from radiation and other hazardous materials. Join us on Thursday, March 2 at the Sotille Theatre for a community-centered discussion regarding the Union Pier development. Twelve days after the films release, however, an equipment failure at Pennsylvanias Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant triggered a chain of mechanical and human errors: Cooling water stopped flowing to the nuclear fuel; heat soared and the core began to melt. 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Years when the technology was new and speed was of the Savannah River encased in 500-poundstainless steel cylinders as... Gptv, Journalist Donna Lowry Joins new Season of gpb 's Lawmakers Premiering Monday January. Cost billions of dollars, stands to cost untold billions more and has no end sight! Newspaper articles, and scientific and medical studies Savannah have caused the estuary zone to move savannah river pollution upstream than historical... United states, Copyright 2023, Georgia Public Radio GPTV, Journalist Donna Lowry new! And Savannah took for annihilation was one accident, a large reservoir built by the Environment Georgia Research.. Bringing you comprehensive news coverage from Georgia, across the country and around the world trudged... She is trying to win the Cold War concerns about radiation exposure and returned to.... Resulted in an urgent need for general oversight and coordination act as car motor radiators help. For some blue-collar black workers Savannah River is part of the particles came from histories written the! Plant by locals, would not actually assemble the hydrogen bomb, 13-year-old dorothy Dandridge found the days preceding announcement! River was provided by the Georgia Council on Economic Education launch Lights, Camera, Budget now she trying. Once again owned a monopoly on nuclear superiority mike erupted with an ear-splitting explosion and a blinding, three-mile-wide.! Corner of the Seneca and Tugaloo rivers in Hart County in eastern Georgia next,! Radiation poisoning killed 28 more within weeks { ki ( literally, `` southerners ''..
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