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Any new homes built in Minnesota June 1 or
later will have to be built with radon mitigation under a new state law.


      The law was adopted after research at Minnesota State University
here showed high levels of the gas in homes around Mankato.


      Cecil Keen, a professor in the geography department at the
university, has personal experience with radon in his Mankato home.


      Keen did a radon test in the basement when he moved in and found
the levels were "off the charts," he said.

      At the time, he hired a contractor for $1,500 to install a pipe
and fan system to vent the gas from under the basement slab out
through the roof.


      Home builders will only be required to install a passive system
in which pipes are installed under the basement slab and piped up
to the roof, allowing natural draft to pull the gas upward. 

While
Keen had hoped to see the law require builders to install an active
system, he hopes some will do it anyway.


      "If you're a good builder and have a conscience and a heart,
you'd put in that extra $100 for the fan," Keen said.


      The Minnesota Department of Health is encouraging builders to
install active systems by giving them a certificate with a special
designation for homes that add it.


      When the new regulations take effect, the cost of a new home
will likely increase by up to $1,000, depending on its size and the
type of installation.


      While home builders often look down on added regulations, the
president of the Minnesota River Builders Association said he
thinks the new law is justified.
      

"The Mankato area is high in radon. It's not that much of a
cost," said Steve Meister, who is also a contractor in Mankato.
"It's a safety precaution. It protects builders, too, from being
sued by someone for not keeping radon out."


      According to the World Health Organization, 15 percent of all
lung cancers are caused by radon. It causes about 1,000 Minnesotans
to die prematurely each year.


      About two-thirds of the 2,000 homes tested in Mankato as part of
the MSU Radon Project have radon levels above those recommended by
the federal Environmental Protection Agency.


      Experts think the fractured limestone along the Minnesota River
Valley likely allows more of the gas - a natural byproduct of the
radioactive decay of uranium in the ground - to seep up.


      Information from: The Free Press,
http://www.mankatofreepress.com

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Any new homes built in Minnesota June 1 or
later will have to be built with radon mitigation under a new state law.


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New law requires radon reduction in newly built homes

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