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Radiation in Vancouver pond triggers review

Chemical in plant's waste will require special license, but no danger posed

By Andrea Damewood
Published: February 5, 2011, 12:00am
5 Photos
The state Department of Health has found that this pond, next to General Chemical at 2611 W. 26th Ave., contains radium concentrated enough to require a license.
The state Department of Health has found that this pond, next to General Chemical at 2611 W. 26th Ave., contains radium concentrated enough to require a license. The pond is not a public health threat and no contamination has been found in the groundwater. Photo Gallery

A concentration of radioactive material above state standards has been found on the property of a chemical processing facility near the Port of Vancouver, prompting the state to ask for more oversight.

The Washington Department of Health sent a letter to General Chemical, located at 2611 W. 26th Ave., last week, informing them that a pond holding wastewater from mineral processing had a high enough concentration of radium 226 to require a Radioactive Materials License.

While a license is needed, there’s not enough of it to present any danger to the public, said Mikel J. Elsen, supervisor of waste management in the state Office of Radiation Protection.

“There’s no threat to public health and safety that we’re aware of,” Elsen said. “It’s well below what could cause negative effects to the environment and humans.”

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General Chemical has been in Vancouver since 1941, and processes bauxite ore with sulfuric acid to form alum, a commonly used chemical, as a final product. The process also naturally generates the radium, which goes out with wastewater and other inert by-products. The wastewater is currently regulated under a state industrial permit with the Department of Ecology.

The discovery of radium in Vancouver has caused the health department to begin a statewide review for other mineral-processing facilities that may also need a license.

The Department of Health found out about General Chemical’s 5.5-acre pond only when the state Department of Ecology, which handles General Chemical’s wastewater permit, contacted them about possible radioactivity, Elsen said.

“We’re not informed of facilities that may have material like that,” he said. “It’s the first that I know of in the state. We’re trying to do a search of (similar) businesses in the state … and investigate these facilities.”

In Vancouver, nuclear-infused rabbits like those found at Hanford are not a possibility, but the level of radiation is high enough that the state, local governments and the company must work to regulate the mud pond, he said.

Solutions could include capping the pond, putting in a liner or removing the sludge entirely. The license will include rules for the way the pond is to be “operated, decontaminated and ultimately decommissioned,” according to the letter the state sent General Chemical on Jan. 27.

The company must apply for the $27,000 Radioactive Materials License within 45 days of receiving the letter. Company officials met Thursday with the Department of Health to discuss the process; General Chemical declined to comment Thursday.

Preventing a problem

Management is essential to keep the pond from ever becoming a problem, Elsen said.

“It’s just sitting out there, and with the moisture in this part of the state, we don’t want it getting into the groundwater,” he said.

City of Vancouver crews have tested the groundwater near the site and also in the closest water station to General Chemical, Water Station 1, and both came up negative for any contamination, Public Works Director Brian Carlson said.

“Our primary concern is making sure that our water resources are protected,” he said. “… We need to get additional information, and the material needs further characterization.”

County Environmental and Public Health Services Director Marni Storey said her department is tracking the testing, and will get directly involved only if it turns out there is a threat to local residents.

After General Chemical applies for the Radioactive Materials License, Clark County commissioners and Vancouver’s mayor will have an opportunity to comment, Elsen said. Carlson said that before that, the city will be sure to reach out to residents at large and particularly to those of the nearby Fruit Valley neighborhood. As of Friday, Carlson had exchanged several e-mails with a concerned member of the neighborhood association.

He said documents show that the pond has been filling for decades, and that it is likely to be filled with sediment in four to eight years.

Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.

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