A re-check of 10 Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. buildings that showed elevated radon levels in some areas five years ago shows all schools now test below Environmental Protection Agency recommendations.
Two buildings that do not house students or teachers tested with some areas above the EPA’s 4.0 pCi/L level, a measure of the rate of radioactive decay of radon, Superintendent Jim Roberts said. They are:
The school corporation’s Information Services Center, which is the former administration building.
The current BCSC administration building.
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Results from testing conducted by the Alliance Environmental Group in Indianapolis showed that a lending library and a storage area showed slightly elevated radon levels in the current BCSC administration building. A storage room and office space in the Information Services Center were cited as having elevated results.
However, during the Oct. 16-18 testing, both buildings had air-handling systems turned off or repairs were being made, said Brett Boezeman, BCSC’s director of operations.
The current BCSC administration building has been having heating and air conditioning work done for about a month, and the work is ongoing, Boezeman said.
The testing company has advised school officials to retest both buildings when the air-handling systems are fully operational, Roberts said.
The decision to retest the 10 BCSC school buildings was made in September, after school officials learned that radon test results from 2013 showed elevated radon levels in some of the rooms. In 2013, then-BCSC Superintendent John Quick and other school officials decided to test all BCSC buildings for radon after a series of national news reports on the levels of the gas in the nation’s public schools.
BCSC officials learned the testing five years ago had been done during the second week of fall break, a time when all air-handling systems of buildings were turned off or running at a minimal level for energy conservation.
In 2013, school officials attributed the higher concentrations in about half of the buildings as an anomaly. Because the air-handling systems were turned off, stagnant air was not giving a radon reading that would be the same if air flow had been moving through the building and keeping the air fresh, Roberts said.
Kent Shadley, Alliance Environmental Group vice president for field services, said in an earlier interview that one issue that continues to stymie radon investigations on large public buildings is that the 4.0 pCi/L level standard is for residential homes, rather than large buildings, where there is no set standard.
Companies that do radon evaluations, or school corporations such as BCSC, use the 4.0 pCi/L level standard although it’s unknown if that is actually an effective number for larger spaces, he said.
In the past five years, BCSC has done numerous improvements to its school building air-handling units.
Roberts said he was pleased that the results of the retest show that the schools are below the EPA recommended rate, and the school corporation has been able to put the 2013 numbers in perspective.
The EPA recommends radon testing for every five years, and school officials are working to set up a schedule for future checks, Boezeman said. This year’s testing cost about $8,500. Combined with the expense of the 2013 testing, BCSC has spent $22,000 so far on radon checks.
Only four states require radon testing for public schools and Indiana is not one of them, school officials said. There is no federal requirement that schools test for radon either.
Roberts noted that BCSC is among the estimated 4 percent of Indiana school corporations that have tested for radon — one of 12 school corporations among about 300 in the state.
“We want the air to be safe in all our buildings, with temperature controls that create a comfortable environment for our staff and students to work and learn in,” he said.
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Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and chemically-inert radioactive gas, formed by the natural radioactive decay of uranium in rock, soil and water, according to Kanas State University’s National Radon Program Services. It can be found in all 50 states. In Indiana, Bartholomew County is listed in Zone 1, which is the highest potential group to have radon, along with 56 other counties, including Shelby, Johnson, Jennings and Marion.
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