The news of a potential meltdown at Three Mile Island came on the first really nice day of spring. It was eerie to look out at the beautiful day and be told to stay inside because something in the spring air was dangerous.
Although we, in Palmyra, were on the edge of the danger zone, there was still a sinking feeling when evacuation information was delivered to our door. Other than that message, there was very little solid information coming from government or news outlets.
“MUTANT BLUEBELLS FOUND NEAR THREE MILE ISLAND”
In Annville, Lebanon Valley College was closed, even though it was out of the evacuation zone. Still, Lebanon Valley College stepped up and as a community service, two professors presented a general information session for worried citizens. The physicist explained how a meltdown could happen. The biologist spoke on the biological effects of radiation.
Echoes of the event came even later. When the wild flowers bloomed along the river, a group led by a disciple of Euell Gibbons (the foraging guru) found white Bluebells. That led to a panic-making article in the Lebanon Valley News titled “MUTANT BLUEBELLS FOUND NEAR THREE MILE ISLAND.” As the botanist at LVC, I knew that my classes had found white forms of bluebells along the Swatara Creek even before Three Mile Island. In fact, they were reported in a book on Lancaster County plants in 1924. I felt it was my duty to allay any current fears about new irradiated mutants and wrote to the LDN, which published my letter.
Susan