Radio active brine

Don't most of the naturally forming radium isotopes have half lives less than a decade? A few rads for fossil fuels? Such a deal !!

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Doesn't really make much difference at this point.
Even if there was overwhelming evidence of that causing bad things to happen........the current Moron in Chief would do away with those regs anyway.

 

Ra-223, 11.4 days. Ra-224, 3.6 days. Ra-226, 1600 years. Ra-228, 5.7 years. All of these are decay products of the naturally occurring uranium and thorium.

Typical amounts in rock and soil are about 1 ppt (part per trillion). Apparently this translates to 1 pCi / gram (picoCuries per gram). EPA limits are 5 pCi/liter for drinking water, 5 pCi/gram in the top six inches of uranium and thorium mill tailings, and 15 pCi/g deeper in the pile.

Public Health Statement - Radium
Curie - Wikipedia

 

& a few picoCuries (in the air) per liter of the decomposing off-gas ..... radon .... which most people living in such exposure regions don't even seem to give a rip about it, even though it's absorption is blamed as being the 3rd largest cause of lung cancer behind smoking & 2nd-hand smoke.
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Radon in homes is considered a leading cause of lung cancer. Rutgers did a risk study years ago showed nobody in NJ cared about radon that despite relatively high radon in their homes, but they were outraged about a plan to put a small amount watch-dial waste of radon/radium in a landfill, which would have near zero impact on them. So we don't want anybody forcing something on us.

Obviously there should always be proper waste treatment/disposal and hygiene safety care.
But the gov't is always trying to encourage small business which basically means lowering safety/regulation bar for smaller firms otherwise only the big companies with deep pockets could play the game. The reason much of this waste is underground injected is probably this among other things. Anytime you have extractive mining of the earth chances are this could be an issue of sorts. And historically mining has had some shall we say different treatment from haz waste regs.

 

The area is grew up in Ohio, pretty much all the house basements/below ground floors had radon detectors + forced air ventilation. I also believe that housing code forbid bedrooms in below ground rooms.

 

If you're in a potentially high radon zone, yes you should. Here's the EPA map for Radon risk: EPA Map of Radon Zones | Radon | US EPA

 

From a very different time:

Radioactive Quack Cures

 

I've generally understood natural Uranium to not be a radiation hazard. The natural decay rate of the major isotope is so low that it doesn't amount to much compared to other natural sources. And the faster decaying minor isotope comprises a very tiny fraction (currently 0.72%, declining over geological time). Instead, Uranium is a chemical hazard, nasty to the kidneys.

According to its CDC Toxic Substances datasheet:
"Natural and depleted uranium have the identical chemical effect on your body.
The health effects of natural and depleted uranium are due to chemical effects and not to radiation."

However, I believe they missed the primary health effect of depleted uranium. People are most likely to encounter it as a missile fired from a military force engaged in warfare, and its kinetic energy will cause physical trauma in a similar manner as bullets made of other materials. After that, since it can burn, people can inhale or ingest residues that cause the standard chemical toxicity.

Enriched uranium is a different matter. It has much more of the higher decay rate isotope, so has greater radioactivity. And it becomes vastly worse if it has ever been used for anything it is intended for, which creates very nasty synthetic byproducts and contaminants.

 

Perhaps historically true? Keep in mind that rather a lot of such ammunition was expended by US forces in the middle east, Iraq in particular, between 1990 and the present. Logically there will be (or has been) a point where the greater threat is in finding it lying on the ground, breathing it when dust is disturbed, using products manufactured from contaminated earth etc. I have no idea whether we've passed the point where the residual waste threat is greater than the potential target threat but I recognize that it is possible.

 

Road De-Icing Fluids May Contain Unhealthy Chemicals - Scientific American

Nobody was doing anything about it before he was in office either.

 

Scattering plain old "safe" salt chunks all over the road wasn't exactly doing the ecosystem any favors either.

But sadly the economy wasn't built to tolerate snow days.

 

There's a local character out my way who takes delight in setting up a massive display of Fiestastuff at the local fairs and the like, complete with a vintage geiger counter to demonstrate the finishes.