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Re: 700 cancer cases caused by X-rays...Montclair NJ info...
I'm not sure what you mean by "individual". The EPA did not act alone
with regard to homes in Montclair (and neighboring Glen Ridge and West
Orange). The CDC and the State of New Jersey were involved also. And,
there was considerable debate within and between the involved agencies
regarding what the appropriate radon level and associated risk should
be. The original recommendation from EPA was to reduce radon progeny to
less than 0.02 WLM (based on miner study data). Working Levels were
more difficult to measure than radon itself so 4 pCi/l became the
guidance level for remediation there, in Florida (phosphate mine debris)
and later on at a national level following the discovery and remediation
of the Watras house in Pennsylvania.
Gerald Nicholls
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
609-633-7964
>>> <RuthWeiner@AOL.COM> 02/03/04 10:07AM >>>
It would be intersting to make a compilation of cases like this one,
and the brief history of the EPA radon standard, to show how much the
policies that supposedly protect public health are the result of some
individual decisions that have nothing to do with public health at all.
ruth
ruthweiner@aol.com
>In the Montclair, NJ situation, the source of the contamination was
>uranium tailings from which US Radium had extracted some radium. The
>residual materials were dumped in the local land fill, an abondoned
>brownstone quarry, along with all the other local trash which included
>the ash from the coal fires used for local heating at the time. Based
>on my sampling of this site using extensive boreholes, I believe that
>most of the contamination was due not to uranium, but to the
propagation
>of radon gas throughout the waste matrix through the porous ash. EPA
>was not interested in this opinion nor was the contractor who was
>particularly interested in the prospective work of remediation of this
>danger. My suggestion of providing a non-porous clay filled trench
>around the fill site was not interesting to anybody. EPA would not
>consider using the latest solid state detectors by which the radium
>could be differentiated from radon because "it was not in our
>contract." As a result, peoples lives were destroyed, homes were
>demolished and vast sums were used to move innocuous materials to
Utah.
>I remain disgusted with this project. I feel bad to this day for the
>people I have hurt whose tears I have seen.
>
>John Andrews
>Knoxville, Tennessee
>
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--
Ruth F. Weiner
ruthweiner@aol.com
505-856-5011
(o)505-284-8406
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