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Higher Iodine-131 Data Found For Philly
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Scott Bomboy
MyFoxPhilly.com
PHILADELPHIA - The EPA released more Iodine-131 water sample data for Philadelphia over the weekend, with one sample just below a safety limit.
That sample from the Belmont Reservoir, while released to the public on April 22, was actually taken on Feb. 14, 2011, about one month before the nuclear meltdown in Japan on March 11th.
The Belmont sample from Feb. 14th was 2.9 picoCuries per liter, while a sample taken at the Queen Lane Reservoir, also on Feb. 14, 2011, was 2.6 picoCuries per liter.
The EPA's maximum contaminant level, or MCL, for Iodine-131 in drinking water is 3.0 picoCuries.
Previously, the EPA said a sample taken at Queen Lane on April 4th was tested at 2.2 picoCuries .
As of Sunday night, six of the seven highest concentrations of Iodine-131 in the EPA's national drinking-water database were in Philadelphia.
Earlier in April, the Philadelphia water department confirmed it found Iodine-131, in samples, as far back as August 2010. The Water Department said the elevated readings were from samples taken at the Queen Lane Treatment Plant in East Falls.
The department stressed that water was safe to drink.
In a statement issued on April 12, t he Water Department said it was working with state and federal officials "to develop a joint action plan that will accelerate the sampling for Iodine 131 and other radiological elements in our waterways in combination with an aggressive program to track down the potential sources of Iodine 131 in the Schuylkill River Watershed."
State officials also found Iodine 131 in both the Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek in samples taken since the Japanese earthquake.
Philadelphia said in the April 12 statement it was adding carbon to the treatment process at its Queen Lane Plant absorb contaminants in drinking water. There was no word on what it was doing at the Belmont facility.
By The Numbers is a regular MyFoxPhilly feature that looks at key Philadelphia issues behind publicly available numbers and research.
If you have a suggestion for a story idea, e-mail Scott Bomboy at scott.bomboy@foxtv.com for consideration.