Re: R/A MATERIAL BAG

[BergerIEM <BergerIEM@aol.com>]

Johnny:

Just a shot in the dark here, but could "SONOPCO" possibly be an oil
exploration/production company in Alabama, Mississippi or Louisiana?  Many of
these firms, and most of the support service companies consulting for them,
have only marginally-qualified radiological expertise, but lots of encounters
with "NORM".  If the package contains soil, vegetation, or some brittle,
scale-like material that is a greyish-green/blue color, it might be a sample
collected during one of their "NORM Swarms" that fell off the truck on the way
to a laboratory  (Believe it or not, "NORM Swarm" is their terminology for
site characterization!)  We have too many occasions where radiologically-
benign samples are labeled by some of the more creative of these self-
professed radiation protection professionals using some pretty scary signs and
symbols . . . mostly for effect.

Carol D. Berger
Integrated Environmental Management, Inc.
CDBerger@IEM-Inc.com