Health Official Seeks To Quell Alarm Over Local Uranium Levels

By Steve Bigham

Last week’s media coverage of the town’s decision to conduct widespread groundwater testing for uranium has raised concerns among residents. The town’s chief health officials said this week that the decision to test the groundwater does not warrant the alarmed reactions of many townspeople.

“We’re getting calls from people who are making that leap that if you have uranium in your water, it will lead to health problems. That’s not true,” noted Health District Director Mark Cooper this week.

In one case, a parent called to say her kids had been swimming in a neighbor’s pool that had been filled with groundwater last summer. Might there have been uranium in that water, the parent asked, and what might happen to my kids if there was?

In another instance, rumors spread that the water at Merryhill Day Care Center had been shut off after high levels of uranium were discovered. In reality, there was no water because of a water main break at the corner of Mile Hill Road and Queen Street.

This week, local health officials are doing their part to quell those unfounded fears, telling people there is absolutely no reason to be alarmed. To date, according to Mr Cooper, there is no link between uranium in groundwater and any specific health or medical conditions. He placed part of the blame on last week’s media coverage of the issue.

“I think it was the way the press reported it. People were very concerned,” Mr Cooper said. “So far, the medical establishment is saying there is no link.”

But others, including one Newtown family whose water supply tested exceedingly high, are saying otherwise. Ed and Tammy Marks believe the high uranium levels in their drinking water have caused some health problems for their children, who have lived at the home on Sweet Meadow Road most of their lives. The uranium phenomenon in Newtown was brought closer to home for many more last week 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 Monday.

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.”

Last week, Mr Cooper joined First Selectman Herb Rosenthal at a press conference to announce the town’s decision to test 50 Newtown wells randomly along five different bedrock formations to determine the extent of the uranium problem. It is believed to be the first time that this kind of townwide uranium testing has ever been done in Connecticut.

“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,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Letters went out to the 50 homeowners last week, explaining the situation. The testing will be done on a voluntary basis and will be paid for by the state of Connecticut. Employees of the Newtown health District will conduct the tests.

Town officials were quick to urge residents not to read too much into their announcement. For the most part, they said, the testing is simply a “pro-active” project to make sure that Newtown and the surrounding area is not overly susceptible to high uranium levels.

This week, Middle Gate School students and staff are drinking bottled water. 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.

Mr Cooper said the testing project is 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.

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, however, but there is no reported evidence to suggest that it is dangerous to human health.

For more information about uranium, call the Newtown Health District at 270-4291.