See that red blog in the Northeast? That's central, south, and eastern pennsylvania. Yes, there's also a lot of radon in Iowa and the Red River valley of Minnesota. But that's where most people who have ultra-high levels of radon live.
Posted on 04/09/2015 6:21:05 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
That's true, and in order for the radon gas to migrate into the basement of a house it has to pass through, or more likely come from the rocks right under the house.
Common sense and even a bit of knowledge about gas diffusion tells you that even if the fracking set loose a lot of radon a mile underground, those gas molecules are not going to migrate through a mile or more of solid rock very quickly. If ever. Particularly since at the level of the fracking the flow is out of the rock and into the well.
Anybody who paid attention in science class knows that diffusion goes in the same direction as bulk flow, so any radon released by the fracking would go in the same direction as the natural gas released by fracking.
Countdown to the argument that fracking causes Global Warming....
BTW, isn’t there an underground fire that’s perpetually burning around there? I’d think that would be more concerning than radon.
Add NJ to the list. I lived in Base housing at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst in the late 80’s and they came and put detectors in the rooms on the first floor. I moved out as soon as I could.
Staggie and Macey? Seriously, I, too, smell anti-fracking BS spewed by Pete and Repete, trying to turn that line of crap into more uninformed public opinion.
Shh, don't let the facts get in the way of the narrative. /sarc
Better exhume Snarlin’ Arlen.
Common in Minnesota, too.
Geez, Pennsylvania always had very high radon levels in their homes. It was epicenter of the Radon-detection movement.
“Countdown to the argument that fracking causes Global Warming....”
Too late, already been claimed.
I think there are a couple of places in the US with underground fires in coal mines that will burn for around 100 years or more.
It was discovered in the 80s that the biggest driver of radon in PA was Jimmy Carters push for insulation in the homes. This created a way for the radon to rise up and accumulate in the house to dangerous levels.
Solution was to remove insulation and improve ventilation.
Mistakes of the past repeated again.
LOL
Great news for lib lawmakers who can make Radon detectors mandatory in every room in every building.
Granite can emit radon. Could be all the granite countertops that became so very trendy in the last 10 or so years. Or, it could be the ongoing obsession with preventing the tiniest air leak in houses for the purpose of saving energy. Radon gas in a house will dissipate unless the air is trapped within a house.
Fracking map:
Even without fracking, radon readings are generally higher in houses built on shale formations, which is the same type of rock from which shale oil and gas come from in Pennsylvania. Thus, no one should be shocked that gas, oil, and high levels of radon are all found in the same areas.
So why the sudden “spike”? Could be that people move to where the jobs are and there are lots of jobs along the PA side of the PA/NY border thanks to the oil and gas industries. That means that more houses are being built in areas where there are high concentrations of radon — with or without fracking. In addition, there is more turnover of existing houses in these areas than there has been in decades as older people retire and move out of the area and sell there houses to a younger generation. Nearly every bank requires a radon test these days as a condition of the loan, which was not the case when many of these older houses were built and sold to the long-time owners.
The bottom line is there are more houses and housing turnovers in these areas and as a result there is more radon testing.
Back in the 80s the libs decided to save the forests by eliminating the use of paper shopping bags. Many of us argued at the time that bags can be made of recycled material, but replacing them with plastic would be disaster for land fills. Now they have their panties in a wad because of the non biodegradable plastic that has clogged the composting process in landfills. But the good news is they've moved past it all to personalized shopping bags - some even made with hemp.
Not even radon wants to hang out in Philly.
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