The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality worked Monday to clean up a Boise apartment Monday that was contaminated with hazardous and radioactive material.
The apartment is in the Renaissance apartment complex at Hobble Creek, off Chinden Boulevard. The material, including powdered uranium ore, was discovered Oct. 8 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission while interviewing a tenant suspected of buying and selling radioactive material on eBay.
“We don’t believe there was any kind of exposure risk to neighbors,” said Greg Weigel, EPA on-scene coordinator.
No charges have been filed, and the tenant’s name was not released.
NRC investigators saw powdered uranium and feared that while the level of radiation was relatively low, it could become airborne and be breathed in. A Boise Fire Department hazardous materials response team was mobilized to assess conditions in the apartment and determined it was not a threat to others.
DEQ found containers with powders, residues and/or liquids throughout the apartment, some in unlabeled and/or open containers. It also documented equipment that could be used for chemical processing such as glassware and mixing containers.
NRC said the tenant had in his possession a variety of radioactive materials that included suspected uranium, uranium salts and equipment associated with handling radioactive materials. Radiation levels in the apartment were low — reported to range from 0.5 millirem, the level in an airplane, to 1.5 millirem, the level outside of the Three Mile Island Reactor after its 1979 accident.
Weigel said the two apartment occupants were. for unknown reasons, trying to separate radioactive material from store-bought goods such as smoke detectors. Boise police reported there wasn't enough material for a criminal violation and it was not deemed to pose an immediate public health or safety threat.
When police and Boise Fire Haz Mat arrived, they found the substance isolated and contained to a single upstairs apartment, police said. For several hours, residents of adjacent apartments that shared a stairwell with the apartment were asked to remain outside while the substance was investigated. The residents of the apartment were on scene and cooperative, police said.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Lara Uselding said an inspector went to the apartment last Wednesday after the agency received a tip.
The Associated Press and Statesman staff contributed to this story.