Higher levels of radiation in Pines

EPA: Rate not ‘alarming health risk’

By Alicia Ebaugh

Staff Writer

Published: Friday, February 5, 2010 4:17 AM CST

PINES — Residents here may be exposed to higher than normal levels of radiation because of coal ash spread around the town, a study of radioactive materials in the area has found. However, Environmental Protection Agency officials do not consider it an “alarming health risk” at this point.

“We’ve been studying this aspect of contamination along with the drinking water issues, and we’ve been thorough,” said Tim Drexler, EPA project manager for the Superfund Alternative process at Yard 520 landfill. “We are taking this survey into consideration along with our results.”

Gamma rays, which are given off by radioactive materials such as radium and uranium, were found at concentrations of more than twice what should normally be present in at least 15 locations around town. That exceeds the upper limit of the EPA’s acceptable risk range for radiation exposure, said Larry Jensen, the former EPA Superfund radiation expert who completed the study. The most elevated counts were found where fly ash was thought to be used as filler in roads and the land nearby, Jensen said.

“The risk would come if someone is just walking by. Gamma rays fly through the air and your body absorbs them,” he said. “We don’t want to cause a panic and say there is a problem when there isn’t one, but if there is, people need to be cautious.”

Long-term, chronic exposure to low levels of radiation can cause different types of cancers and mutations in DNA, according to the EPA Web site.

The coal ash was used as filler for yards, roads and other projects in the town in the 1970s, in part because NIPSCO was using the Yard 520 landfill as a disposal site for its coal ash, which is left after the burning of coal for electricity. Brown Inc., a local contracting firm, own the landfill, and trucks from its subsidiaries hauled the coal ash there from NIPSCO’s Bailly and Michigan City power plants.

NIPSCO disposed of 1.5 million tons of coal ash waste there more than 25 years. The landfill was shut down in 2003 after high levels of boron, molybdenum and arsenic were detected in residents’ well water. Now, NIPSCO and Brown Inc. are working with the EPA to study the Superfund Alternative site and provide needed cleanup.

It is important to keep in mind that gamma and other types of emissions are naturally occurring and can be found anywhere, including in road materials like asphalt, NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said.

“Emissions from many types of building materials and road materials are typically above background levels found in soils,” Meyer said, “and they vary widely depending on the source of the materials.”

Background radiation levels for sandy soils found in the Pines area lso are typically low compared to other types of soils, Meyer said.

Jensen, who lives in Beverly Shores, volunteered to do the study on behalf of People in Need of Environmental Safety, a resident group that tracks the issue. Jensen said he didn’t find evidence the EPA collected information on radiation levels in residents’ drinking water, but Drexler said that was done. However, no soil samples were collected from homes, he said.

“They should have collected data directly from homes to determine if this added to the chemical hazards,” Jensen said. “If other data is substituted for direct measurements, it will never be clear if these risks are the true risks.”

Where coal ash was used as fill, how much of it is present in the soil will determine the risk, Drexler said.

Jensen also said radium levels in the coal ash inside Yard 520 exceed EPA requirements for its removal from the site. Those measurements are part of a remedial investigation being completed during the Superfund Alternative process. That investigation has not been published, but he said he used levels found in drafts provided to the P.I.N.E.S. Group.

“If my interpretation is correct, the material should be removed no matter where it is, if you assume the same material in Pines is the same as in the landfill,” said Jensen, who worked on two Superfund sites in the Chicago area in his 21 years with the EPA.

Drexler said he wasn’t sure if Jensen’s results are any different from what the EPA has found thus far in the process, although he used a different method to achieve his results. Jensen’s counts came from a handheld gamma ray counter, Drexler said, but the EPA’s measurements have been taken by labs.

“We haven’t done direct comparison of numbers because we haven’t received a first draft of the human health-risk assessment. That will measure how this will affect the residents,” he said. “We’re not at a point where we can state the risk in regard to human health.”