Liable? yes, in 1947. Likely that it did, and we’d not know, was my point. Yes. one of those rings very likely killed a person, when the polonium was fresh. Absolutely.
I once figured out why two people who had gone crazy and fallen apart physically, emotionally, and mentally over 30 years. It was in my home town. They were a known rich family with ALL the issues. Years later i am drilling monitoring wells on their property. Turns out the lead paint (with plenty of other metals in it) that they disposed of not far enough downhill from their well, starting in the 1940s caught up with them.
I could have told their kids that the parents had managed to poison their own well (as well as a creek and a tidal shellfish bed) and that all the chaos of 50 years was very likely down to drinking their own tea… but who would be served then? I sealed the well myself and decided nobody ever needed to know. Nobody lived there, the house had town water, the hazardous waste was being addressed… but nothing would be gained by sharing the tragedy of that well. It was already a tragedy!
But I know, that old-timer managed to poison himself and his wife, and their kids. Drove the two parents literally institutionally crazy and made a lot of people sick. I’d never seen that much paint waste in one place - and 2 feet of linseed oil and other solvents floating on top of the groundwater too.
All to save what probably added up to 30K in proper disposal costs over 60 years.
