http://www.wtae.com/news/radiation-found-in-greene-county-stream-near-water-supply/34205428

By Paul Van Osdol — “Radiation found in Greene County stream near water supply — Biologist concerned about residents’ health” — Jul 16, 2015

Fredericktown, PA — WTAE Action News has learned high levels of radiation — up to 60 times higher than the maximum allowed in drinking water — have been found in a stream that feeds into a water treatment plant. That water ends up in Pittsburgh.

Ken Dufalla of the Izaak Walton League conservation group has been taking samples from 10 Mile Creek for years, frequently finding high levels of total dissolved solids. “I wouldn’t touch it. As you can see, I try to keep my hands off it all I can because I don’t know what’s in this water,” Dufalla said.

To find out exactly what is in the water, he pressed the state Department of Environmental Protection to do comprehensive testing. The results showed levels of radium 226 and radium 228 totaling 327 picocuries per liter at one location, and 301 picocuries per liter of radium 226 at another location. In plain English, that means both samples had 60 times the EPA drinking water standard of 5 picocuries per liter.

John Stolz, a biologist at Duquesne University, says radium can be hazardous. “The reality is, if it’s getting into the water that is being used as a source of drinking water, then it is a problem,” Stolz said. One big problem is water authorities cannot easily get rid of radium through the standard filtering process.