Dive summary:
- After less than half a pound of uranium was found in the Larimer County landfill in Colorado last year, landfill owners have opted to take extra security measures and continuously check the air for radiation.
- The improved security measures are in reaction to a $10,200 fine last year for having the uranium, employees who saw it thought it might have been sulfur.
- Now, when trucks come in to bring in a load of trash the load will be checked for radiation, if anything suspicious is found, the load in question will be held and the state health department will be notified.
From the article:
Rather than risk another pricey surprise or burying something that shouldn’t be in the landfill, the department decided to install radiation-detection systems at a cost of about $15,000, Gillette said.
Landfills are not required to have radiation-detection systems, said Roger Doak of the Solid Waste Permitting Unit of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Maybe “seven or eight” landfills around the state have such systems.
Modern landfills are lined and have air and groundwater monitoring systems designed to detect hazardous materials and protect the public. Problems with radioactive materials are rare, he said. ...
