Cancer doctor urges city to adopt radon protection

By Eric Fleischauer
DAILY Staff Writer
Printed: July 31, 2002; The Decatur Daily News, online edition

Congenial chatter at a workshop to discuss a radon reduction requirement in Decatur's building code halted abruptly Tuesday when Dr. Lane Price spoke.

"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.

A radiation oncologist and the medical director of the Oncology Center at Decatur General Hospital, she is the wife of ex-Mayor Julian Price.

The Morgan County Extension Service coordinated the meeting in response to a proposed building code for new one- and two-family homes. The City Council tabled a vote on the code three times because of indecision on whether to make homebuilders install passive radon reduction systems.

Test results updated

Extension Agent Julie Dutton used the forum to announce updated results from radon tests distributed by the Extension Service. With about 1,000 tests completed in Decatur, 15 percent of the residences tested above the level that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deems hazardous.

Building Director Jimmy Brothers said the building code should require radon reduction systems.

"I was against this because I'm not convinced that radon's the biggest threat to mankind," Brothers said.

He said he changed his mind, however, in part because of the medical information that Dr. Price provided, and in part from fear that lawsuits will plague builders if the city does not require the radon systems.

"Now that the cat's out of the bag, what's going to happen when somebody tests their new house and it's high? They're going to talk to their lawyer, and their lawyer's going to talk to the builder's lawyer. Everybody's a loser if we don't do something," Brothers said.

He also said the cost to comply is low because many of the requirements coincide with normal building practices.

"The only additional materials I see are the PVC pipe (and some extra sealant). Based on that, I'm figuring 150 to 200 bucks on a one-story house, maybe a little more on a two-story house," Brothers said.

The City Council will vote on whether to require radon reduction systems in September.

The main scheduled speaker at Tuesday's workshop was Jack Hughes, an instructor at Auburn University's Southern Radon Training Center.

Hughes said that radon reduction is only one advantage to installing the systems. Also important, he said, is the resulting drop in other soil gas. He said high moisture content in soil gases triggers mold and other contaminants. He said pesticides used underneath foundations are kept from the house's interior with the radon reduction system, also.

Normal construction techniques do not significantly reduce the radon risk, Hughes said.

"If you were a radon atom, a one-sixteenth-inch-wide crack would look as big as the Grand Canyon would to a BB," Hughes said.

Resistant construction

The primary components of radon resistant construction are a vapor barrier -- already included in Decatur's building code -- and a PVC pipe to emit trapped gases.

"It's like herding cats. You've got to make it hard for it to go where you don't want it to go and easy for it to go where you want it to go," Hughes said.

Don Steele, a Trinity resident, pushed for the City Council to include the radon system requirement.

"You may wonder why someone from Trinity cares what happens here in Decatur. I'll tell you why. All the little surrounding towns are watching Decatur. They want to see what Decatur is going to do," Steele said.

Dr. Price said radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer, kills 20,000 people a year. She said lung cancer is fatal 90 percent of the time.

"If we were talking about somebody releasing this at Browns Ferry (Nuclear Plant), we'd have a heart attack. Maybe we should be talking about taking some responsibility, about removing a health hazard," she said.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas. Decatur is within an area categorized as "Zone 1" by the EPA. That means the radon threat in this area is in the highest category in the United States.

Hughes said radon levels are so high in this area that the federal government once considered mining low-grade uranium here.