Residents urge Lawrence County to consider warning signs after radium concerns raised

Lisa Stern, who identified herself as president of Lawrence County Action, told the Lawrence County Board of Commissioners that she and a colleague were seeking the board’s advice and support for placing warning signs at three boat launches. “Lawrence County waterways have an unsafe amount of radium 226 as a result of fracking waste,” Stern said during the board’s public comment period.

Stern and a fellow commenter, Jane Cleary, summarized a 2016 Department of Environmental Protection study they said documented elevated radium-226 readings at several regional treatment facilities and waterways; the speakers cited sample results they attributed to that study (examples mentioned in the public comment included readings the speakers stated as 203, 96 and 60 picocuries per liter at specific sites). They described radium-226 as a long-lived radioactive element that can be harmful if inhaled or ingested and said wastes from unconventional gas production are often managed as nonhazardous and transported to landfills and wastewater treatment plants.

Commissioners and staff asked the speakers to identify the three boat launches they had in mind. Stern said they were the Human Services Center launch, the Bevington launch on Wampum/Wayne Road (which commissioners said is county owned), and Rock Point (which commissioners and planning staff said appears to be privately owned and likely managed by a conservancy or leased to a boat club).

Board members advised Stern to consult Planning Director Amy McKinney (or interim staff Rebecca Schaeffer or Alan Miller) about which properties are county-owned and what legal authority the county has to post signs on county property. Commissioners also recommended the group contact municipal and state officials and the county solicitor to clarify any posting restrictions or required approvals.

Stern and Cleary offered to provide supporting materials and news links to the board. The commissioners thanked them for raising the issue and for the information provided; no formal action or vote on signage was taken during the meeting.

What happens next: Commissioners directed the speakers to meet with planning staff and, if necessary, to return with a formal request that the board can act on after consultation with the county solicitor and any relevant municipal owners.