Uranium Level Remains High in Tahoe Well

A concrete plug placed in a local water supply well has failed to reduce uranium levels to within state health standards and the well will be turned off after New Year’s Day.

The well, the most productive one operated by the South Tahoe Public Utility District, was turned on last week after being shut down since early October and plugged with concrete to try to reduce the uranium level.

But tests showed the plug did not work.

The state health limit is 30 parts per billion and the average reading from the well is 53 ppb.

Rick Hydrick, the utility district’s operations chief, said options include further treatment or blending of the well water, keeping the well on standby or simply abandoning it.

The well can pump up to 1.9 million gallons a day.

Hydrick said if the problem cannot be resolved by the busy tourist season next summer “we’ll be in a world of hurt.”

The chief threat from the uranium is its toxicity and not its radioactivity.

Long-term exposure to high doses of uranium in water can lead to kidney damage. The state standard was set at a level 100 times below the amount which caused damage in animal studies.