Will County to residents: Use bottled water
Will County to residents: Use bottled water: "News
Will County to residents: Use bottled water
March 1, 2006
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Will County health officials recommend residents near a nuclear power plant who fear their water supply may have been contaminated use bottled water for drinking and cooking. Health Department Director Jim Zelko said the county is trying to determine if water supplies were contaminated by three leaks of tritium-laced water in 1996, 1998 and 2000 from the Exelon plant at Braidwood.
Tritium is a radioactive hydrogen isotope that's a byproduct of the production of electricity at nuclear reactors. High levels are thought to cause cancer. 'We are in the process of identifying the number of wells in an area and assessing the risks and are working to determine what sampling is necessary,' Zelko told the county Board of Health.
The county plans to collect its own samples and will not rely on tests conducted and paid for by Exelon Corp. The Will County state's attorney's office is studying whether legal action can be taken against Exelon for the spills.
Tom O'Neill, Exelon's vice president of regulatory affairs, admitted the company did not do enough to solve past problems but stressed elevated levels of tritium were only found on the northeast side of the plant. "There has been no tritium found in the village of Godley," O'Neill said, adding health risks to humans are very low.
The U.S. EPA has established a safe drinking water limit of 20,000 picocuries of tritium per liter. Exelon said most of the wells it sampled were well below that upper limit. But O'Neill also said Exelon would help with the costs of bringing in bottled water and do whatever is necessary to assure a safe water supply to the area.
"
Will County to residents: Use bottled water
March 1, 2006
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Will County health officials recommend residents near a nuclear power plant who fear their water supply may have been contaminated use bottled water for drinking and cooking. Health Department Director Jim Zelko said the county is trying to determine if water supplies were contaminated by three leaks of tritium-laced water in 1996, 1998 and 2000 from the Exelon plant at Braidwood.
Tritium is a radioactive hydrogen isotope that's a byproduct of the production of electricity at nuclear reactors. High levels are thought to cause cancer. 'We are in the process of identifying the number of wells in an area and assessing the risks and are working to determine what sampling is necessary,' Zelko told the county Board of Health.
The county plans to collect its own samples and will not rely on tests conducted and paid for by Exelon Corp. The Will County state's attorney's office is studying whether legal action can be taken against Exelon for the spills.
Tom O'Neill, Exelon's vice president of regulatory affairs, admitted the company did not do enough to solve past problems but stressed elevated levels of tritium were only found on the northeast side of the plant. "There has been no tritium found in the village of Godley," O'Neill said, adding health risks to humans are very low.
The U.S. EPA has established a safe drinking water limit of 20,000 picocuries of tritium per liter. Exelon said most of the wells it sampled were well below that upper limit. But O'Neill also said Exelon would help with the costs of bringing in bottled water and do whatever is necessary to assure a safe water supply to the area.
"
posted by Greta Jane at Thursday, March 02, 2006
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