Ten Mile Creek No Longer Has Radioactivity Danger

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Radioactivity was threatening the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people in the region, according to the findings of state laboratory tests earlier this year.

But now, the state has conducted new tests.

George Smoggie of Clarksville has fished in Ten Mile Creek all of his life.

"Well, I'm 80, so you figure how many years I've fished this creek," he said. "Ever since I was a kid."

So when tests last spring found radioactivity in the creek to be 60 times above safe levels, he and people throughout Greene County became alarmed.

"That's terrible," he said. "That means you can't eat the fish."

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What's worse is that Ten Mile Creek flows into the Mon River, which is the source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people in the region.

"When you turn your faucet on, you don't want any questions that the water coming out is anything but pure," said John Poister with the DEP.

The radioactive readings were found near an abandoned mine by the State Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Mines. But since those levels are much higher than typical acid mine drainage, environmentalists suspected the cause to be illegally dumped frack water from drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

So the DEP conducted more exhaustive tests, analyzing up- and downstream samples as well as soil and fish samples, and Thursday, announced more reassuring findings.

"We concluded that there is no radioactivity danger in Ten Mile Creek," Poister said.

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The news was greeted with relief from environmental organizations, which, however, said it is not proof the stream is healthy or free of shale gas dumping.

"Recent testing has shown elevated levels of other shale gas signature pollutants, such as conductivity and bromides in Ten Mile Creek," said Patrick Grenter with the Center for Coalfield Justice. "These pollutants are harming public drinking water systems. DEP must continue to monitor this area, prosecute illegal polluters and share water quality testing results widely."

But the DEP says that radioactive threat to our drinking water is not credible, and while there are other dangers from other discharges, this is not one of them.