It was an ordinary day. Spring of 1979 and Mary was surveying her garden outside the window at her home near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Her home sat a few miles from Three Mile Island that on March 28, 1979 had a partial meltdown of the Nuclear Power Plant's Unit 2 reactor.
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| Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania |
It was just weeks since the meltdown and Mary noticed that her dandelions growing in her garden were about 2 inches wide and flat. Was it the radiation that was released that caused the dandelions to mutate into their warped and huge form? As she walked through her neighborhood she was convinced that it was the radiation that was responsible for the mutations, since many of her neighbor's flowers were much the same as her plants. She knew she needed to document her findings to justify her suspicions about the mutations. She began collecting dozens of the irregular plants and dried and preserved them with hopes that some day they could be used to illustrate the potential danger that nuclear accidents, such as the one she experienced, posed to plant life as well as humans and animals. Could radiation cause the irregularities in the plants?  |
| Some of Mary's flower samples! |
Well, it's been 42 years since Mary preserved her unusual flowers and now researchers at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. want to take a look at them. Mary is now 77 and recently talked to the local newspaper about the request from the Institute. Seems that shortly after the accident on March 24, she plucked one of the first funny looking plants from her yard, It had a yellow round center and was pinched, like someone squeezed it with their fingers. As soon as she saw it, it reminded her of a science lesson she had while in high school years before from a teacher who spoke about radiation and how it can cause mutations in flowers. She still had the image of the flower in her mind from years ago and this flower from her yard looked eerily familiar. She has told this story over and over again since that fateful day in 1979. She also has other flowers, such as a rose with multiple flowers and one bud that has other roses coming from it to show along with the dandelion. She has shown the flowers to reporters, scientist, researchers and activists. One assistant professor and expert in plant molecular biology from nearby Millersville University has examined it. The scientist said that can happen naturally just as every mole you may have can be shaped differently and not be caused by radiation exposure. But then the professor began to examine the samples a bit more and told Mary that this needs to be investigated, since plants are rooted to the ground and often are more susceptible to radiation releases. And, the mutations can be passed down from generation to generation in plants. The radiation that was released in 1979 was said to be minor with the 2 million people around TMI-2 during the accident receiving a dose of just 1 milligram above the usual background dose. That is much less than having a chest X-ray. Well, Mary's samples are now gaining some fame. The watchdogs at Three Mile Island Alert are looking for a more definite answer as to the dose that was released from the No. 2 reactor in 1979. Mary's samples will now be a factor in the scientific examination that will take place.  |
| Photograph I took of Reactor #2 a few years ago. |
And, the researchers at the Smithsonian Institution are going to do the examinations. Her collection will be sent sometime in the next few weeks to the botany department of the institution's Natural History Museum. Future tests will hopefully be able to give a more accurate record of Mary's plants she had collected from 1979. As of now, Mary is still convinced that the misshapen plants she collected those fateful days after the accident in 1979 were a direct result of the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island power plant. She does realize that there are people who feel as she does, me being one of them, as well as those who believe differently. Hopefully a final result will come in the near future. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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