radioactive waste is at the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility
cantonrep.com: "EPA looking into how low-level radioactive waste got into landfill
Thursday, August 25, 2005
By Robert Wang Repository staff writer
PIKE TWP. — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it will look into why a pile of low-level radioactive waste is at the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility.
“The storage and disposal of radioactive waste (at Countywide) is not permitted ... so we do have some questions,” said the agency’s spokesman Mike Settles.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, the material is Iodine-131, which is used to treat patients with thyroid cancer. Bob Owen, chief of the department’s bureau of radiation protection, said the waste poses no threat to people’s health or the environment.
Countywide’s general manager Tim Vandersall did not return calls seeking comment.
The landfill’s spokesman, Will Flower, speculated that the Iodine-131 may have come from the adult diaper of a patient who had received radiation treatment.
“Doctors provide this to their patients. They put this in their bodies,” said Flower. “It’s such a low level. It doesn’t present a health risk. This isn’t uranium or plutonium. ... we’re operating within full compliance of our permit.”
He said low-level radioactive materials set off Countywide’s detectors about three times a year.
L&M Refuse of Bolivar said that in early July it brought a load of household trash into the landfill that triggered the facility’s radiation detectors. Lee said it appears that the waste came from a Perry Township home, but it’s unclear which one. He added that it’s the third time one of his loads has triggered Countywide’s detectors. The first two times involved cat litter that apparently came from cats that had received radiation treatments.
The load was later scanned by an inspector, who found radiation levels 35 times above normal. The inspector approved landfill employees removing the waste, more than 25 bags, placing it on an unused part of the landfill and covered with six inches of soil.
Because Iodine-131 has a half-life of about eight days, the department said the radiation should drop to normal levels by late September. It will then be inspected and disposed of in the landfill.
Owen said the state health department has no plans to cite L&M or Countywide because household waste is exempt from stricter regulations.
Tom O’Dell, the vice president of the environmental group Club 3000, said he discovered the pile with the sign, “Caution: Radioactive Material,” during a court-sanctioned inspection. He said a Countywide manager tried to keep him from that area of the landfill.
“I’m disappointed,” said Stark County Commissioner Richard Regula, who called for the pile to be immediately removed. “Take it somewhere that’s made to handle that kind of material.”
You can reach Repository writer Robert Wang at (330) 580-8327 or e-mail:
robert.wang@cantonrep.com"
Thursday, August 25, 2005
By Robert Wang Repository staff writer
PIKE TWP. — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it will look into why a pile of low-level radioactive waste is at the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility.
“The storage and disposal of radioactive waste (at Countywide) is not permitted ... so we do have some questions,” said the agency’s spokesman Mike Settles.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, the material is Iodine-131, which is used to treat patients with thyroid cancer. Bob Owen, chief of the department’s bureau of radiation protection, said the waste poses no threat to people’s health or the environment.
Countywide’s general manager Tim Vandersall did not return calls seeking comment.
The landfill’s spokesman, Will Flower, speculated that the Iodine-131 may have come from the adult diaper of a patient who had received radiation treatment.
“Doctors provide this to their patients. They put this in their bodies,” said Flower. “It’s such a low level. It doesn’t present a health risk. This isn’t uranium or plutonium. ... we’re operating within full compliance of our permit.”
He said low-level radioactive materials set off Countywide’s detectors about three times a year.
L&M Refuse of Bolivar said that in early July it brought a load of household trash into the landfill that triggered the facility’s radiation detectors. Lee said it appears that the waste came from a Perry Township home, but it’s unclear which one. He added that it’s the third time one of his loads has triggered Countywide’s detectors. The first two times involved cat litter that apparently came from cats that had received radiation treatments.
The load was later scanned by an inspector, who found radiation levels 35 times above normal. The inspector approved landfill employees removing the waste, more than 25 bags, placing it on an unused part of the landfill and covered with six inches of soil.
Because Iodine-131 has a half-life of about eight days, the department said the radiation should drop to normal levels by late September. It will then be inspected and disposed of in the landfill.
Owen said the state health department has no plans to cite L&M or Countywide because household waste is exempt from stricter regulations.
Tom O’Dell, the vice president of the environmental group Club 3000, said he discovered the pile with the sign, “Caution: Radioactive Material,” during a court-sanctioned inspection. He said a Countywide manager tried to keep him from that area of the landfill.
“I’m disappointed,” said Stark County Commissioner Richard Regula, who called for the pile to be immediately removed. “Take it somewhere that’s made to handle that kind of material.”
You can reach Repository writer Robert Wang at (330) 580-8327 or e-mail:
robert.wang@cantonrep.com"
posted by Greta Jane at Friday, August 26, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home