UNC to Accelerate Radiation Cleanup

UNC allowed low-level radioactive waste to be dumped in the site from 1963-70 and is now paying more than $3 million to remove all source material, said Pete Reinhardt, director of the department.

In the 1990s, the state started cataloging waste burial sites and identifying environmental issues, Reinhardt said. The radiation at the Old Mason Farm burial site does not meet the state's ground water standards, said Eric Rice, hydrogeologist of the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources.

Although the state recently ordered the acceleration of the waste cleanup effort, UNC officials are adamant that there is no immediate health risk.

"At this point, it poses no hazard," he said. "However, we believe the state of North Carolina wants to minimize any possible future risks."

Still, the NCDENR has notified University officials that the process must be completed by July 31.

The cleanup was originally slated to be completed by July 2003.

The UNC-system Board of Governors' Budget and Finance Committee is expected today to formally approve the employment of emergency measures to expedite the cleanup process.

The low-level radioactive waste at the site, located less than a mile from the Friday Center, comes from University biochemical research.

For years, scientists have used radioactive material in biological or chemical experiments as tracers, materials that allow scientists to track the flow of chemicals, Reinhardt said.

There were no standards for burying radioactive waste in the 1960s, so the material was buried in vials, boxes or pails. Radioactive waste is now incinerated or held for 10 to 12 half-lives so it is indistinguishable from background, or cosmic, radiation, Reinhardt said.

One half-life is the amount of time it takes for the radioactivity of a material to be decreased by half of its original value.

When scientists use radioactive tracers, they dissolve the tracer into a liquid chemical called dioxane.

Dioxane is the chemical that still remains at the Old Mason Farm site, Reinhardt said, adding that dioxane has the potential to gradually seep from ground water to surface water, adversely affecting surrounding areas.

But Reinhardt said that although the radioactive waste has contaminated ground water, no surface water has been affected. The site is also in a remote area, meaning it is unlikely that any humans have been affected by the waste, he said.

The University is working with contractors and the NCDENR to clean up the site to meet the state's regulations for water quality.

Remediation systems, which pump out contaminated ground water or strip vapors out of it, are used to clean up the sites.

"They have a lot of experience with this at other sites," Reinhardt said. "It is just prudent to clean it now before more time passes."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.