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State agency investigating dumped radioactive X-ray equipment near Citiplace

2 months 5 days 2 hours ago Sunday, March 03 2024 Mar 3, 2024 March 03, 2024 9:55 PM March 03, 2024 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A radioactive X-ray calibrator that was dumped near Citiplace along Corporate Boulevard has been safely removed, fire officials said. 

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Around 8:30 p.m., the Baton Rouge Fire Department was called to the area after someone reported radioactive material. A photo provided by the fire department showed the silver cylinder with a yellow sticker on it. 

By 9 p.m., Baton Rouge Police officers were called to secure the area as Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality agents worked to safely remove the equipment. A spokesperson for BRFD said it was an outdated piece of equipment used to calibrate X-rays in industrial settings.

According to a statement from the Department of Environmental Quality, the radiation was not a threat to public safety. 

Read the full statement below:

"The equipment was secure and was not a health concern for the general public.  It was emitting very low amounts of radiation. Even If an individual was close to it, a couple of feet or closer, they would not have received as much radiation as they get in a single chest X-ray. The piece of equipment is a radioactive element calibrator. It is used to calibrate other meters. LDEQ has the equipment in its possession in a secure location. We are looking to find out who it belongs to and why it was left on Corporate Blvd. No one has any idea of how long it had been there before it was found. If the general public has any information about the incident, they can call our Single Point of Contact Line (SPOC) at 225-342-1234 or 1-888-763-5424 toll free in Louisiana." 

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