According to a report on WBZ News, a Level 3 HazMat incident has occurred at the Tip O'Neill Federal Building in Boston, MA. Two federal security officers were performing a walk through of an area in the basement when their personal radiation detectors indicated that there were significant radiation levels present in the area. The officers left the area and alerted the Boston HazMat team. Boston HazMat responded to the scene and performed an extended surveyed of the basement area. The two security officers have been isolated and are awaiting evaluation.

MassDEP will not be responding to the scene. The state radiation organization, the Nuclear Incident Advisory Team (NIAT), is currently on scene working with Boston HazMat and providing oversight. NIAT reported that the source is an old radium source and that the threat of continued contamination is minimal.

Per a request made by NIAT, EPA has deployed our radiation expert Tony Honnellio to offer EPAs assistance with further evaluating the threat and to discuss decontamination and disposal issues.

 EPAs radiation expert Tony Honnellio arrived on scene at 1900hrs and integrated into incident command.

At that time, the two federal security officers had been cleared and it was determined that they were not contaminated with radioactive material.

EPA accompanied NIAT on an investigation of the affected area to determine the exact source of the radiation. The source was located inside of an old sextant compass, encased in the dial and two glass bulbs. Upon inspection, it was determined that the source was contained and did not pose a threat of release. The compass was then placed in a large over pack drum and shipped to the NIAT laboratory in Jamaica Plain. MA.

EPA has accepted responsibility for coordinating the disposal of the source material. Tony will be working with NIAT throughout the disposal process.