Radioactive Materials from Tinton Falls Construction Site

Tinton Falls, NJ - Nine trailers of debris from a Tinton Falls construction site were found to be radioactive, after the waste material set off radiation detectors at a Pennsylvania landfill where the debris was going to be permanently buried, reports the Asbury Park Press.

The cause is "naturally occurring radioactivity" in New Jersey's groundwater, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna told the APP. It should not pose a threat or health risk to residents near the site, he said.

The debris was from an electric cogeneration plant's cooling tower that is being demolished in Lakewood. The cooling tower operated by circulating local ground water.

Mountains in the northern part of the state have naturally occurring radioactive rocks, wrote the APP, and that can end up in our groundwater. Environmental officials are aware of radioactivity in New Jersey's ground water and test it regularly, Hajna said.

Read the full story here.Stock image of a cooling tower.