In Southern Illinois radon professionals Cal Murphy and Dave Parkhill of the Southern Illinois Radon Awareness Task Force are donating their skill, knowledge and services to ten fortunate participants in the Radon Awareness Initiative sponsored by American Lung Association (ALA), Illinois Emergency Management Agency, (IEMA) Environmental Protection Agency, and Cancer Survivors Against Radon (CanSAR). ALA is donating 1,000 radon test kits to the first 1,000 callers or visitors to the website. Ten participants with the highest radon levels will receive a free mitigation. ALA is donating the materials and Cal Murphy, licensed radon mitigator, is donating his skill. After the mitigation, Dave Parkhill, licensed radon testor, will donate free radon testing as a follow up. After only a very few days, approximately 600 participants have already registered. The idea of the initiative stemmed from Pat Daniels of IEMA. Announcements and interviews have been aired on TV, radio and printed in several newspapers. ALA is handling all of the organizational tasks and regulations.

This is an excellent example of the dedication of our AARST members, ALA, IEMA, and EPA. Many people will become aware of the danger of living with radon gas and houses will be mitigated and inevitably (in my opinion) lives will be saved. Hat's off to you all!

Gloria Linnertz
seascape@htc.net

Southern Illinois Radon Awareness Initiative

Partners
•United States Environmental Protection Agency
•American Lung Association of Illinois
•Illinois Emergency Management Agency
•Southern Illinois Radon Awareness Task Force
•Cancer Survivors Against Radon
•Allied Radon Services, Inc.
•Newspapers, Radio Stations, News Stations

Initiative Summary

Reduce the risk of Radon in homes in Southern Illinois through radon testing and mitigation. 1000 radon test kits will be distributed to home owners who wish to test their homes for radon. The 10 homes with the highest radon concentrations will be eligible for a free home mitigation system.

Counties targeted include: Clay, Clinton, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Marion, Perry, Washington, Wayne, and Williamson. According to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency these counties have too few tests between January 2003-December 2007 to provide a good picture of the radon potential in that area and this should be rectified as soon as possible in order to demonstrate radon risks in those particular region.

Current Timeline (Subject to Change)
1. Begin Southern IL Radon Awareness Initiative on June 16th
2. Free Radon Test Kits must be requested by 4:30 pm June 30th
3. Radon test must be completed and in the mail by July 14th
4. Radon test results analyzed and homes picked by August 7th

Additional Radon Information:
Websites:
American Lung Association of Illinois
Illinois Emergency Management Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Cancer Survivors Against Radon (CanSAR)
Southern Illinois Radon Awareness Task Force

Request a free test kit online!