Reversal on Radon
Decatur council appears ready to OK gas reduction ordinance

By Eric Fleischauer
DAILY Staff Writer
Printed: August 25, 2002; The Decatur Daily News, online edition

It appears that a radon-reduction requirement that languished for months at City Hall will probably pass when the City Council votes Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

Support grew in recent weeks after a physician who specializes in cancer appealed to council members. The council also heard evidence that places Decatur in one of the highest-risk areas in the nation for cancer-causing radon.

When the City Council first considered a new building code in April, Building Director Jimmy Brothers omitted the radon-reduction requirement with little discussion. At the time, Brothers said, "We have big radon problems in North Alabama. From a political standpoint, though, radon protection is just not going to fly."

Also in April, Decatur Homebuilders Association President John Mitchell said omission of the radon-reduction requirement "was already agreed upon. That's not an issue anymore."

Mayor Lynn Fowler spoke against the requirement. The building code issue appeared on the City Council agenda several times, but City Council President Pat Woller tabled it when council members Phil Hastings and Dot Montgomery expressed concern about omitting the radon-reduction provision.

In July, Woller said she did not think the council should pass the radon portion of the building code.

"Are they concerned about it? I don't think we've had a single person come in and ask a question about radon. It borders on more regulation than we should have on an individual," Woller said at the time.

Enter Dr. Lane Price

The turning point may have been at a meeting coordinated by the Morgan County Extension Service on July 30. The mayor and most of the City Council members attended.

Also in attendance: Dr. Lane Price, director of the Oncology Center at Decatur General Hospital and wife of former Mayor Julian Price.

In the midst of a cacophony of mortality statistics and picocuries and malleable sealants, Dr. Price talked about human beings.

"I've signed four death certificates today for lung cancer. … This is not something to be looked at lightly. I challenge the city to do something. I challenge the Decatur homebuilders to do something," Dr. Price said at the meeting.

People listened.

Dr. Price knows her statistics, but that is not what she thinks about when calculating the number of people who will die if the City Council does not require radon reduction in new Decatur homes.

Instead she thinks about faces -- the faces of lung-cancer patients who died without understanding why they had the disease.

"I wish people had given me all of this information to begin with. Before I do a flip-flop on the issue, I want to make sure I have all of the information I can get. … I wish Dr. Price had spoken up earlier," Woller said last week.

At least in part because of Dr. Price's input, Fowler reversed his position.

"I really think as we've gotten more information on this, we understand the problem better. I think we don't want to jeopardize anybody's health. I support the radon installation at this time," said Fowler.

Brothers and Montgomery also support the radon-reduction requirement.

"Unless I'm shown something different, I do plan to support it. I'm concerned about the safety of our citizens. I realize that this only helps on the new homes, but I feel we have to start somewhere," Montgomery said.

Hastings would not commit, but indicated he would probably vote for the radon-reduction requirement.

Councilman Ronny Russell also supports the measure.

First system installed

Dr. Price's eyes narrow when asked if the increased construction costs are worth the lives saved by radon reduction systems.

"How many people know someone who died of lung cancer who didn't smoke? Almost everybody. That's what this is about. Radon is the major cause of lung cancer for nonsmokers," she said.

"We're talking about a little more than the cost of one trip to the grocery to completely eliminate the radon risk in a new home," Dr. Price said.

Alice Rice, owner of Alice Rice Builders, is installing her first radon-reduction system in a spec house at 1200 Pavilion Place, and she's not sure what all the fuss is about.

Rice said the total additional cost of the system in the $105,000 house will be under $200.

"Dr. Lane Price challenged the homebuilders to do something, and I wanted to accept her challenge. Also, it might help us sell it," Rice said.

She said the added expense was low enough that it will not affect the selling price of the house.

Rice said she and many other homebuilders have no objection to the radon reduction requirement being included in the building code.

Children are particularly susceptible to radon. For this reason, Decatur General Hospital has provided new mothers with radon test kits for several years, Dr. Price said. She recently initiated a program whereby all of her oncology patients will receive free radon test kits.

Radon explained

"If we can't see it, smell it or taste it, we don't worry about it. With radon, that is a mistake," Dr. Price said.

She explained that when uranium breaks down, it creates radon gas. Buoyed by air, atoms of radon easily pass through hairs that line the nostrils and lungs, hairs that protect the body from larger contaminants.

Some of the radon atoms lodge in air sacs, called alveoli, within the lungs. The radioactive radon atoms emit alpha particles that penetrate a few millimeters into the lining of the lung -- far enough to damage the lungs, but not far enough to affect other parts of the body.

People who combine smoking and radon exposure greatly multiply their normal chances of lung cancer, Dr. Price said.

"More people die of this than of pesticides on food or carbon monoxide exposure. Why won't we do more?" Dr. Price asked.

She said that up to 30,000 people a year die of radon-caused lung cancer. About 90 percent of those who contract lung cancer die.

Radon-caused lung cancer in nonsmokers is particularly tragic because its victims are people who thought they were avoiding cancer risks, Dr. Price said.

Decatur is in an area labeled "Zone 1" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meaning that its radon level is among the highest in the United States. As of June 31, almost 1,000 Decatur residents had tested their homes for radon with test kits from the Morgan County Extension Service. Over 16 percent of those tests came in above the level considered hazardous by the EPA.

According to Dr. Price, grants are available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist in retrofitting older houses with excessive radon.

The Decatur Building Department has a supply of free radon test kits available for city residents. Kits can also be obtained for $5 at the Morgan County Extension Service.