Niphates digitalis Niphates digitalis Niphates digitalis, the pink vase sponge, is a species of demosponge belonging to the Niphatidae family. It is native to the Florida Keys, The Bahamas, and the Caribbean including the Netherlands Antilles. The species was first described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1814. The pink vase sponge is a demosponge that can grow up to 50 cm in height and width, but is more commonly smaller. It is re normally vase-, tube-, or cup-shaped with a narrow base and broader top, and somewhat flattened when viewed in cross section. Rarely, it can grow as a fan shape. Despite its
Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant of substantial contamination from the 1957 plutonium fire until after the highly visible 1969 fire, when civilian monitoring teams confronted government officials with measurements made outside the plant of radioactive contamination suspected to be from the 1969 fire, which consumed hundreds of pounds of plutonium (850 kg). The 1969 fire raised public awareness of potential hazards posed by the plant and led to years of increasing citizen protests and demands for plant closure. Releases from previous years had not been reported publicly prior to the fire; airborne-become-groundborne radioactive contamination extending well beyond the Rocky Flats plant was not publicly reported