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Article: Radiation in Water Stumps Experts
This appeared in today's Washington Post. I wonder
how expert their experts are.
I would say government officials are not providing any
service to the public by not quickly determining what
the problem is, if there really is a problem.
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Radiation in Water Stumps Experts
By Joshua Partlow
On the surface, only a smattering of out-of-season
Christmas decorations call attention to Chapel Point
Woods, a 95-home subdivision tucked amid the oak trees
of Southern Maryland.
But 700 feet below ground, something more unusual has
captured the homeowners' attention. Four months have
passed since they were told that elevated levels of
radiation -- about three times above federal standards
-- were detected in their water system, which comes
from three wells in the Patapsco aquifer.
"In 1992, the average [radiation] level was 8. In
1999, [it] was 8 again. Last year, it was 43," said
Richard McIntire, a spokesman for the Maryland
Department of the Environment. "We don't understand
why we saw the levels increase so dramatically. . . .
This is a bona-fide mystery."
The elevated levels were found during routine
water-quality tests of the well system, which is run
by Charles County. In September, the state issued a
notice of violation to the county for exceeding the
federal threshold of 15 picocuries per liter of gross
alpha radiation, McIntire said.
He said the Chapel Point Woods system had tested at
43 pCi/l and above for four consecutive quarters,
going back to 2002. Before then, the levels had held
steady -- well below the safe standard -- since the
wells were put in roughly 15 years ago.
The water in Charles County comes primarily from
private and public well systems drilled into area
aquifers. The Patapsco aquifer extends for miles
beneath the Washington region and is widely siphoned
by wells in Anne Arundel and Charles counties, and to
a lesser extent in Prince George's and St. Mary's.
The Patapsco is the second-deepest aquifer in
Southern Maryland and its waters are thousands of
years old, according to geologists. The well system in
Chapel Point Woods, which can pump up to 24,000
gallons a day, is confined to that subdivision, and no
other water systems in the area have shown elevated
radiation levels, state and county officials said.
While water-quality testing continues, some
subdivision residents are angry that they have not
been given definitive information about whether to
stop drinking the water or take other precautions.
"I've never been as sick as I have been since I moved
here" four years ago, said Sherri Ingagliato, 38, who
runs a day-care business out of her home. "I'm always
tired, sick to my stomach, I have headaches. I'm
not trying to say it's all because of the radiation.
But I worry."
Radiation can come from several sources, both natural
and man-made, and long-term exposure can cause cancer.
In the late 1990s, hundreds of wells in Anne Arundel
County were found to have elevated levels of radium, a
radioactive element that occurs in trace amounts in
rock and soil.
The levels of radium detected in Chapel Point Woods
are not abnormal, officials said. Tests for uranium
also came back negative.
"I kind of scratched my head at this," said David
Bolton, chief of hydrogeology at the Maryland
Geological Survey, who reviewed the Department of the
Environment data. "It did not look consistent with
naturally occurring radium that was found in Anne
Arundel."
Gary Felton, a water quality specialist at the
University of Maryland, said the breakdown of
radioactive materials in the ground is usually
consistent from year to year. So to him, a sharp rise
in radiation implies some sort of radioactive
pollutant. "Something obviously caused it. And I would
have a hard time believing that this is a naturally
occurring variance," he said. "When you get unusual
spikes, that makes me think there's something man-made
going on."
Others said they consider that scenario unlikely
because the Chapel Point Woods wells descend hundreds
of feet into the aquifer and the water is contained in
thick confining walls. "I would really doubt if it was
anything man-made," Bolton said.
Some speculate that a sudden change in the geology or
the source of water feeding the Patapsco aquifer could
have added sources of naturally occurring radiation.
Another factor to consider, officials say, are recent
changes in water sampling. In 2001, the Environmental
Protection Agency adopted regulations to implement a
threshold level for uranium, as well as to alter how
water is sampled. In Chapel Point Woods, this meant no
longer testing water from individual homes but at the
treatment plant before it is distributed, state
officials said.
The change adds uncertainty to the findings, said
Alice Mignerey, a professor of nuclear chemistry at
the University of Maryland who was consulted about the
situation.
"The key is that we don't really know how recent the
problem is because they changed" testing procedures,
she said. "It's now unclear whether this is a new
occurrence or something that's been happening for a
long time. . . . This is weird."
While authorities continue to investigate, some
homeowners have become increasingly concerned. Miriam
Bois, 43, a clinical social worker, said her family
has stopped drinking or cooking with tap water since
she found out about the problem in October. She said
the family, with two daughters ages 14 and 11, goes
through two cases of bottled water and a 2.5-gallon
jug in the refrigerator every week.
"It's irritating that they haven't told us to stop
drinking the water. It's not like we're blaming them
for having radiation in our water," she said. "I'm
very frustrated that they're not being responsible for
our health."
Department of the Environment officials plan to send
a letter this week to Charles County outlining the
possible methods for cleaning Chapel Point Woods'
water supply.
Among the possibilities are drilling a new well or
installing a reverse osmosis filtration system to
clean the water. Both approaches are costly, but
county officials say they are committed to solving the
problem.
"I think the remedies would be hundreds of thousands
of dollars. But even that is not going to stop us,"
said Murray D. Levy (D-At Large), president of the
Charles County Commissioners.
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© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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"The care of human life and happiness . . . is the first and only legitimate object of good government."
Thomas Jefferson
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail: crispy_bird@yahoo.com
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