The following was received from the
Maryland Department of the Environment Radiological Health Program (MDE RHP) via phone:
On August 12, 2019, at approximately 1330 [EDT] hours, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Hazardous Waste Enforcement Division contacted the MDE Radiological Health Program (RHP) concerning a vehicular accident that involved a nuclear density gauge.
The initial transportation accident, as logged in at 1300 hours0.015 days <br />0.361 hours <br />0.00215 weeks <br />4.9465e-4 months <br />, indicated the accident location near the 70-mile marker on west-bound I-70, near Lisbon, MD. The vehicle, identified as a box truck, was carrying a density gauge that was ejected during the accident. The gauge was observed not in its transportation case at time of arrival of Fire/EMS and Maryland State police. The company Radiation Safety Officer from Francis O. Day, Inc. responded to the scene and verified that the source was in the shielded position. The gauge was taken to Northeast Technical Services for evaluation.
The gauge was identified as a Troxler model 4640 surface thin-layer gauge, S/N 2399. This gauge has a Cs-137 sealed source with a nominal activity of 8 mCi and was last leak tested on July 14, 2019. The State trooper on scene stated that the vehicle was actually a pickup truck. The transportation case was ejected from the pickup truck along with the truck cap and the driver. The gauge left the confines of the transportation case and came to rest approximately 10 feet from the case. The chain that held the case to the truck bed broke. The driver did not survive the accident.
MDE/RHP will further investigate this event.