Radioactive Materials Found in Hazardous Levels near Pa. Waste Treatment Plant

Researchers found high levels of radioactivity, metals, and salts in sediments and water downstream from a Pennsylvania facility that treats fracking wastewater.  Radioactivity levels downstream of the treatment plant were about 200 times higher than in surrounding areas, and concentrations of some salts and metals were also higher than background levels, the scientists reported in Environmental Science and Technology.

The study "really seals the verdict that it's flowback waters that are contaminating the streams," said William Schlesinger, a researcher and president of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in Millbrook, N.Y., who wasn't involved in the study.

Radioactive Materials Found in Hazardous Levels near Pa. Waste Treatment Plant