CDC says Savannah River Site not contaminating water

The Centers for Disease Control says water near the Savannah River Site, a nuclear materials processing facility near Augusta along the Georgia-South Carolina border, is safe.

A study spanning about 12 years found no contaminants in the groundwater near the site, and levels of radioactive materials in surface water were too low to cause health concerns.

The CDC started its study in 1993, monitoring water for radioactive materials such as tritium and cesium.

Contaminants were found in the water on the site itself, and there are concerns that a toxic plume could potentially migrate out of the site, although that hasn't happened. SRS has been containing the plume.

The study did find levels of radium and lead in a city well in Jackson, South Carolina, but officials say it occurred naturally and was unrelated to the Savannah River Site.

The well has been taken offline.

For more information, or to read the report, go to www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/pha/index.asp.