More than 900 apartments and common spaces in Bridgeport’s affordable housing complexes will undergo radon testing.
Park City Communities, Bridgeport’s public housing authority, received nearly $600,000 from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to conduct radon testing.
Radon is a radioactive gas that cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. It’s found in the dirt and rocks beneath houses, in well water and in some building materials, according to HUD.
All homes have small levels of radon gas. Some families breathe high levels of radon, when the substance enters the home through soil, crawlspaces, foundation cracks, floors and walls. Elevated radon ingestion can put families at risk for developing lung cancer, according to HUD.
“People should be able to live in a healthy home, no matter their income. These grants will help to reduce the threat of radon exposure and lung cancer,” HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman said.
The housing authority has no reason to believe the apartments have radon, but wants to be cautious, Park City Communities Chief Executive Officer Jillian Baldwin said.
“We want to make sure that if there are any issues with radon that we make sure that we're proactive in dealing with those issues,” Baldwin said. “We don't suspect that there is, but we're going to find out.”
The testing will take place across the housing authority’s scattered sites, which include more than 500 apartments and several hundred common spaces.
“Not all of those units will have basements, so we're going to be moving through doing an assessment to see which spaces need to be tested,” Baldwin said.
Residents of the scattered sites will be alerted of the testing in the coming months, Baldwin said.
Before testing can be done, Bridgeport and Park City officials will meet with building architects to discuss details, but Park City has four years to conduct the testing and remediation, Baldwin said.
Bridgeport was one of two housing authorities nationwide awarded radon testing funds by HUD, along with the city of Dayton.
“Funding opportunities don't come around often, and so HUD has been doing excellent job over the last three or four years helping Housing Authorities address housing hazards and safety concerns,” Baldwin said. “We're trying to be proactive and apply, and we're glad we did.”
