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Radiation levels at Louisiana sinkhole 15 times over limit

Sinkhole radiation 15 times over limit, residents urged to record health signs
 BAYOU CORNE SINKHOLE DISASTER, Examiner.com AUGUST 24, 2012 BY: DEBORAH DUPRE A non-government group is urging Bayou Corne sinkhole area residents to use a new record log as a veteran radiation expert says Louisiana environmental officials are “in denial” over hazards posed by elevated radium levels that are actually fifteen times higher than the state limit, a “worst nightmare coming true,” according to an environmental attorney.

Stanley Waligora, a New Mexico-based radiation protection consultant and leading authority on health risks of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) has confirmed that radium levels at Bayou Corne’s sinkhole are not within safe limits, but instead, roughly 15 times higher than the state’s acceptable level, according to one of the nation’s leading environmental attorney’s Stuart Smith.

State officials are saying NORM is is below hazardous levels, but the independent findings indicate other actions need to be taken, including residents using Louisiana Environmental Action Network’s report logs to record signs and symptoms of ill health.

The information about radium is buried in a state news release, poorly written, “and goes out of its way to downplay the results,” Smith said Wednesday…… http://www.examiner.com/article/sinkhole-radiation-15-times-over-limit-residents-urged-to-record-health-signs

August 27, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, USA