Queen Lane Water Treatment Plant Tests Highest in U.S. For Radioactive Iodine

Water at a treatment plant in Northwest Philadelphia has the highest recorded amount of radioactive iodine in the country, according to data released by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA's data are based on tests the agency did after a March earthquake in Japan caused radioactive material to be released near nuclear sites there.

The majority of drinking water samples collected from treatment plants across the country don't contain Iodine-131 (I-131). Water from 23 of the 69 sites used as part of the EPA's most recent analysis contains the radioactive material, however, and it was found in water at three Philadelphia sites.

The 2.2 picocuries (a unit that measures radioactivity) of I-131 per liter of water at the Queen Lane treatment plant (3110 Queen Lane in East Falls) was the highest level recorded across the country in the EPA's most recent test. Water at other Philadelphia sites—the Belmont water treatment plant and the Baxter water treatment plant—was found to have the third-highest and fifth-highest levels of the radioactive material compared to water tested at the 69 plants nationwide.

The Queen Lane plant treats an average of 70 million gallons of water per day, according to the Philadelphia Water Department website. That plant and the Belmont plant provide the city's residents with about 40 percent of their water, while the Baxter plant provides Philadelphians with the remaining 60 percent.

Even though the water at the Queen Lane site has the highest levels of the radioactive material in the U.S., the EPA has essentially said that water throughout the city is still safe to drink.

"Drinking water samples collected by EPA since the Japanese nuclear incident have shown radioactive material at levels well below public-health concern," it said on its website.

It also said similar findings are expected to be released soon.

The EPA said it has increased testing of water and milk supplies since Japan's nuclear incident.

"Elevated levels of radioactive material in rainwater have been expected as a result of the nuclear incident after the events in Japan since radiation is known to travel in the atmosphere," the EPA said on its website.