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Update: 3/28/11, 8:40 A.M. Here is follow up on the Radiation Alert from this morning. The Monitoring Station in question is located in Huntsville, Alabama. It triggered alerts based on radiation levels averaging in the 100 to 150 CPM range. We tried to reach the station through a number of different means, including via the Chat forum available from within the Radiation Network, but to no avail. So after a half hour or so, we contacted the Huntsville Fire Department and recommended they take independent radiation readings in the vicinity of the Monitoring Station. After all, Huntsville, AL is located about 30 miles from two different nuclear power plants, so we had to take this alert seriously. Fortunately, their readings showed no elevated radiation levels above normal background. After some time, radiation levels from the Monitoring Station dropped first to 0, then resumed at normal levels. But still receiving no response from the station, we disabled it, essentially removing it from the Radiation Network. We want to thank the Huntsville Fire Department for their timely support in this matter. I will write more on this incident later.
National and state officials said Monday that radioactive rainfall reported in the eastern part of the state Friday did not pose a health risk to residents, and tests on public drinking water over the weekend in six regions throughout Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, did not find any elevated levels of radioactivity. They added that they see no danger for crops, pets or livestock.
But levels of iodine-131, a byproduct of nuclear fission, in some of Friday's rainfall were about 25 times higher than the federal drinking-water standard of 3 picocuries per liter, sparking Gov. Tom Corbett's order that the Department of Environmental Protection test drinking water. He also has asked for air-quality tests.
Kevin Harley, a DEP spokesman, said there is no way of predicting how much radioactive material would be in any future precipitation, but experts expect the levels to continue to go down over the next three months.