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#10- Well site drill cuttings set off radiation warning system
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On April 15 A truck carrying drill cuttings from a Center Township well site set off the radiation warning system at the Max Environmental Technologies disposal site in Yukon, South Huntingdon Township. The Rice Energy Inc. truck coming from the Thunder 2 well pad in Greene County was immediately quarantined and tested at the site to determine what type of radiation it contained.
When Max Environmental determined the load contained 96 microrem (mrem) of Radium 226 it was rejected and returned to the well pad in Greene County. Microrem is the measure of the biological effect of absorbed radiation. The standard in Pennsylvania is 10 above background.
The rejected waste is referred to as TENORM, an anachronism for technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material. The material from Thunder 2 was eventually taken to a US Ecology site in Idaho for proper disposal, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.