© WikipediaThe West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri, pictured in July 2014.
Radioactive drilling waste was illegally dumped at a landfill in Kentucky, according to state officials. Now, they're issuing warnings and investigating how the nuclear waste ended up at the dump site.State officials confirmed this week that low-level nuclear waste was illegally dumped at the Blue Ridge Landfill in Irvine, Ky., last year.
The material came from rock and brine extracted in oil and gas drilling operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The process concentrated naturally-occurring radionuclicides.
The material was further concentrated after being recycled by Fairmont Brine Processing of West Virginia.
Kentucky Division of Waste Management Director Tony Hatton says this is the material that made its way to Irvine between July and November 2015.
State officials say the material came in 47 sealed boxes each with 25 cubic feet of material.
The Blue Ridge Landfill is not equipped to legally handle even this low-level radioactive material. State officials say they are working with landfill managers to see how the material was handled, and whether any workers or others were affected. A middle school and high school are located across Highway 89 from the landfill.
Hatton doubts there is any ongoing exposure at the dumpsite.
"The best we know, the material has been buried since November," Hatton said.
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