Some SEMO restrooms to be closed

Southeast Missouri State University will be conducting a radiation survey of the laboratory drains and a cleanup of the acid dilution pits in Rhodes, McGill and Johnson Halls this week. The survey will require the closing of restrooms in both Rhodes and Magill halls.

During a January study of the drainage system serving Magill and Rhodes, the University's environmental contractor, Science Applications International Organization (SAIC), found small amounts of radioactive material in acid dilution pits. The pits are designed to dilute any concentrated acids being flushed down drains.

The acid pits are not in public areas, and the contamination is not related to the americium-241 spill in the basement of Magill Hall which occurred several years ago, said Dr. Chris McGowan, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics.

"The current contamination problem most likely happened when contaminated equipment from the 1970s was cleaned," McGowan said.

Only a small amount of americium was found in the acid pits in the science buildings in January, and americium has not been used in the university labs for more than two decades, McGowan added.

SAIC will be responsible for cleaning out the acid dilution pits. The pits and the laboratory sinks will need to be dry in order to be surveyed. McGowan said this will require turning off the water and steam to Rhodes and Magill halls for about a week.

Johnson Hall has only one sink affected and so will have water and steam.

Students attending the summer classes will be directed to restrooms in other buildings. No classrooms are affected.

Inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be on campus during the week to observe the survey and cleanup.

At the conclusion of the process, GTS Durateck, an environmental waste hauler, will remove any identified contaminated waste, as well as remove a few items which had small areas of contamination found during a recent campus-wide scoping survey.