Oakland firefighters and the department’s hazardous materials response team completed a second radiation screening of a container aboard a ship that arrived from Asia Friday morning and found no reason for concern, a fire official said.
“It’s all negative,” fire Chief Emon Usher said of the screening results.
The U.S. Coast Guard performed a screening when the APL container ship arrived at the Port of Oakland Friday morning, Usher said.
Around twelve hours later, concerned longshoremen requested the additional screening.
The union workers were concerned for their safety, Usher said, because allegedly they had yet to receive a report from the Coast Guard.
Members of the longshoremen’s union called Oakland’s fire dispatch and requested a screening of a particular container because the employees wanted an answer before they began work, Usher said.
Usher said the hazmat team had not anticipated that it would find cause for concern.
“If there had been great reason for concern, the Coast Guard would have notified us sooner,” Usher said.
The Coast Guard said that it was in communication with the longshoremen’s union representation and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
According to the Coast Guard, this particular vessel originated from Korea, and no radiation was detected during Friday morning’s screening.
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