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Re: 700 cancer cases caused by X-rays...Montclair NJ info...
I meant "individual agency". Perhaps I should have said, more accurately, "particular agency decisions that were based on considerations other than human health protection or risk/benefit analysis."
Ruth Weiner
ruthweiner@aol.com
In a message dated 2/3/2004 1:09:27 PM Eastern Standard Time, "Gerald Nicholls" <Gerald.Nicholls@dep.state.nj.us> writes:
>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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--
Ruth F. Weiner
ruthweiner@aol.com
505-856-5011
(o)505-284-8406
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