Area crash debris partly radioactive

By Edward Lewis [email protected]
Staff Writer

BUTLER TWP. - A tractor-trailer hauling concrete debris from a nuclear waste site in New York that overturned on Interstate 81 on Wednesday morning contained a small amount of radioactivity, according to a news release from an atomic power laboratory.

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An overturned trailer is seen in the median of Interstate 81, near mile marker 148, in Butler Township on Wednesday.

PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER

Steve Bekanich, Luzerne County emergency management director, said the material did not pose a danger.

"All it really is... (is) regular concrete," Bekanich said. "This load came from a building that was on site of a decommissioned nuclear facility in New York. From what we understand, this building had nothing to do with the nuclear operation there. At this point, the readings we're getting off the truck are so minute, they're actually much lower than we would consider a contamination or a concern."

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, of West Milton, N.Y., said in the news release that the debris, consisting of concrete and metal, contained a small amount of radioactivity that equaled the amount of radioactivity from a pallet of fertilizer commonly found at lawn-and-garden centers.

The tractor-trailer was headed to a disposal site in Aiken, S.C., when it overturned in the southbound lane of I-81 near mile marker 148 at about 5:45 a.m. Some of the debris spilled into the median.

No injuries were reported.

The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency reported that the rig was hauling 39,000 pounds of concrete.

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, a subsidiary of Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp., is a research and development facility in upstate New York that develops advanced nuclear propulsion technology for the U.S. Department of Energy, according to the company's Web site.

Crews from the Department of Energy and BMPC responded to assist in the removal of the debris and tractor-trailer.

Bekanich said emergency officials are notified whenever hazardous materials are transported through the county and the state. Due to the sensitivity of such materials, notifications are not made public, he said.

Bekanich said there was no notification of the tractor-trailer that overturned because the concrete was not considered hazardous.

"This is such a low level, the tractor-trailer was not placarded," said Bekanich, referring to special signs that are attached to tractor-trailers or rail cars hauling hazardous materials.

Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.