Radiation shuts one town well

Bowling Green shuts down well due to high radiation levels

Date published: 8/18/2007

BY KATE HARMON and COREY BYERS

Bowling Green officials have shut down one of the three town wells due to high radiation levels, but the mayor insists there's no risk to residents.

Health guidelines say the level of radiation cannot be above 15 picrocuries per liter. The well's reading went from 28.3 picrocuries in March to 30.1 in April down to 12.4 in May, officials said.

Because the three-month average exceeded 15, town officials took the well off-line in early July.

"Everybody has low [radiation] levels," Mayor David Storke said. "It's a naturally occurring thing in the soil when minerals break down."

"There's no risk to our citizens because that water is not getting to our citizens at this point," he added.

Natural minerals in the ground and water can emit what is known as alpha radiation. But the alpha radiation requires precursors such as radium, which were not present in tests on the Bowling Green well, Town Manager Stephen Manster said.

That leads him to believe the high levels stemmed from a testing error.

Town workers have been regularly sending samples to state and private labs for further testing.

No town residents have lost access to water because the remaining two wells are testing fine, Storke said. "It was nice to have luxury of three wells and we only need two to survive," he said.

Letters notifying residents of the high radiation levels and well shutdown were sent in the past two weeks. The wording was provided by state health officials.

The letter was not labeled a warning. But Storke said, "Anytime you have the word 'radiation' on anything, it tends to make you think the worst." He added, however, that he and his family still use town water regularly.

Manster said the time lapse between the well shutdown and notice to residents was normal, because the state had to review the wording. It took about 2 weeks to print and mail the notice, he said.

Lab testing will take a couple of weeks, Storke said. Even if the samples show the high levels were a testing error, the well couldn't be back online until the end of September at the earliest because of the state's monitoring schedule, he said.

If the results confirm the radiation, the town can purchase a filter to get rid of it. Storke said the filter costs upwards of $100,000.

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Date published: 8/18/2007

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