This day in history: Hanford downplayed radioactive spill; Railroad announced electrification; teachers stood against ‘sex periodicals’

From 1975: More than 4,000 gallons of radioactive waste leaked from a Hanford storage tank – the 19th such leak to occur.

The waste “seeped through the bottom or sides of the steel-lined concrete tank and was absorbed by the soil below.”

A Hanford spokesman said it “does not constitute a hazard to Hanford employees or the public.” An official said the leaked material was absorbed “before it reached 10 feet below the tank.”

He claimed it posed no danger to underground water supplies, which were 233 feet below the tank.

He admitted that it was “undesirable,” but not surprising, since these type of leaks “can be anticipated” until a current program could be completed to convert liquid wastes to solids.”

From 1925: The Inland Empire Education Association voted to wage war on “vicious sex periodicals.”

Vicious sex periodicals?

The teachers’ association, meeting in Spokane, did not explain what exactly it meant by that, but it seems to have meant erotic magazines. It called on the cooperation of the press, women’s clubs, parents-teacher associations and other organizations “to check, and, if possible, to prevent the circulation of this insidious and depraved literature.”

In another resolution – which holds some relevance today – the association voted in favor of “the establishment of a department of education of the federal government.”

From the railroad beat: The Great Northern Railroad announced that it would electrify its line over the Cascades from Skyhomish near Stevens Pass in the west for 30 miles east. Installation of equipment and two new engines were expected to cost the railroad $1 million.