The following information was received via fax:
Notifications: DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] received a phone call September 24, 2009 about the incident.
On Wednesday, September 24, 2008 the PA DEP SWRO [Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Southwest Regional Office] received a telephone call from TEI Analytical Services in Washington, PA notifying them of a source disconnect at a facility in Houston, PA. At approximately 1005 pm, Tuesday, September 23, 2008, a 99 curie Ir-192 source became disconnected from the cable while performing radiography on a gas extraction facility along PA Route 519. The source became separated from the guide tube and could not be returned to the camera. The company was notified and sent a rescue team to assist in the recovery and control of the source. No overexposures occurred and the team managed to get the source back into its camera via tongs. This operation was concluded at 12:08am. Doses are as follows: radiographer 51 millirem whole body; assistant 25 millirem; rescue radiographer 42 millirem whole body, 800 millirem extremity; second member of rescue team 160 millirem whole body, no extremity dose. The cause was found to be limitations of the work environment, i.e., the positioning of the exposure device was very limiting and darkness reduced visibility. No modifications in operating procedures to prevent a re-occurrence were mentioned.
Event Report ID No: PA080025