Local Water Samples Collected—

Assessing The Uranium Scare In Newtown

By Steve Bigham

The Newtown Health District began gathering water samples from some 50 household wells this week to determine if any of them contain high levels of uranium. The samples will also be tested for radium, radon, gross alpha, and arsenic.

The project is being called a data gathering effort to get a “cross-section” of the uranium levels around the various bedrock formations in town. The tests will also help show what role different yields and depths of wells play in the existence of high uranium levels, if at all.

To date, 31 of the 50 residents have responded and given permission for health officials to conduct the free test on their water. The testing is being done in conjunction with the state’s Department of Public Health and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Testing was postponed last week due to the snowstorm.

The decision to go forward with the tests came about after a handful of local wells were found to have traces of uranium that exceeded state guidelines. In one high-profile case – at the home of Ed and Tammy Marks – uranium levels were particularly high. The Marks’ case became headline news across the state and some wondered if Newtown had suddenly become a dangerous place.

But health officials say that is not the case at all. They say Newtown’s geology is no different from that of any other town in Connecticut. Uranium is a naturally occurring mineral that is present in most rock formations. Depending on the depth of a well and the composition of the rock that the well penetrates, most homeowners will find they do not have a problem, health officials say.

“Hopefully these results will give us some way to generalize results for the different types of bedrock geology,” noted Donna McCarthy of the town’s health department.

Samples will be collected over the next few weeks and will then be taken to the Department of Public Health lab in Hartford where they will be analyzed. It is expected to take at least two weeks for the results to return. Each home’s individual results will be strictly confidential, although the health district does plan to release overall results.

In a related matter, the Newtown Property Owners Association is distributing a flyer this month advertising confidential uranium testing of well water. The cost is $150 and tests take at least 2-3 weeks. For more information, call Barry Piesner at 203-452-0077 extension 12.

In a letter to 50 homeowners geographically distributed throughout the town earlier this year, Health District Director Mark Cooper said, “The district believes it is important to better understand the occurrence of uranium in well water and to ascertain whether there are any predictive identifiers to alert homeowners to test uranium in their drinking water.”

Mr Cooper added that there is little data on the health risks from uranium exposure or to the extent to which it is found in well water.

Mr Cooper maintains that there is no link between uranium in groundwater and any specific health or medical conditions. He refuted claims that the breakdown of uranium in drinking water could lead to problems associated with radioactivity.

“The decay is extremely low. The half-life is a half-billion years. You’re going to wait around for a long time for that decay to occur,” he said.

Mr Cooper did, however, acknowledge that there is some concern over the physical characteristics of uranium, particularly if the uranium manages to enter the body.

“The body is trying to rid itself of the uranium, and that could have a potential risk to the kidneys,” he explained.

The Marks Family

Ed and Tammy Marks of 3 Sweet Meadow Road have been on the front lines of the uranium issue ever since their home was found to have exceedingly high levels of this heavy metal this past fall. They fear the high uranium levels over time have had an adverse effect on their children’s health.

“We’ve got uranium stored in our bones. As it breaks down, all the daughter products [including radon] are given off,” explained Mrs Marks, who fears that town and state officials may be providing “misinformation” to the public. “The state can’t deny that our kids have low bone mass and some kidney malfunction. What they can deny is what has caused it.”

The Marks’ biggest complaint is that the town and state have not treated the uranium problem with a degree of urgency that it deserves.

The uranium phenomenon in Newtown was brought closer to home for many more in January when it was announced that drinking water at Middle Gate School also had high test results.

Still, Mr Cooper insists that the town’s decision to test 50 wells in town has very little to do with these cases. As he points out, the tests are simply to determine the extent of the condition that currently exists in Newtown, to see if these are isolated or more widely spread incidents.

 “We’re not reacting to a particular family’s issue or that uranium was found in one of the schools. Those are all issues that are out there, but they are not the focal point of our study. We’re trying to separate those two issues,” he said two weeks ago.

Most importantly, he said, there is no evidence to suggest that Newtown has a uranium problem.

“Newtown is no different than any other town, either in the geologic or water quality sense. We’re at the head of the learning curve. We’re out there at the very forefront of looking at the issue of uranium.”

“Right now, we don’t know how much of a problem there is, but we’d like to find out what the magnitude of the situation is by testing the wells,” noted First Selectman Herb Rosenthal last month.

On January 30, Middle Gate School parents were notified that the school’s uranium test results showed an elevated level of 211 pico curies per liter (pCi/L) of water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guideline for allowable amounts of uranium in drinking water is 15 pCi/L.

Uranium is a non-regulated, naturally occurring metal that is found just about everywhere in nature, including high concentrations in both potatoes and bananas. Natural uranium does have low levels of radioactivity, but there is no reported evidence to suggest that it is dangerous to human health.