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 tests." As noted by Carl Johnson in Ambio, "Exposures of a large population in the Denver area to plutonium and other radionuclides in the exhaust plumes from the plant date back to 1953." Weapons production at the plant was halted after a combined FBI and EPA raid in 1989 and years of protests. The plant has since been shut down, with its buildings demolished and completely removed from the site. The Rocky Flats Plant was declared a Superfund site in 1989 and began its transformation to a cleanup site in February 1992. Removal of the plant and surface contamination was