State of Cancer: City of West Des Moines is paying for some residents' Radon Mitigation Systems
It's no secret that Iowa has a Radon problem.
70% of homes in our state test for levels above federal safety standards. The gas can have deadly consequences as it's the second leading cause of lung cancer, which is the deadliest form of the disease in Iowa.
Mitigating the naturally occurring gas can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
But a city in central Iowa is picking up the tab for dozens of its residents.
Marty Ingersoll's family has owned their West Des Moines home since 1972. But just recently, Marty and his wife Ruthie eliminated a danger that has been lurking in the basement the entire time.
"I had no clue," Ruthie Ingersoll tells vlog.
But now, the Ingersolls can eliminate the threat of radon in their home, thanks to a brand-new mitigation system that cost them nothing to install.
"Came across the page that said West Des Moines Housing Radon Mitigation Program, and said I better check into this," Marty recalls.
The city covers 100% of the homeowners' cost to test for and mitigate Radon up to $5,000.
"It was like one of those too good to be true things," Marty says with a chuckle.
But West Des Moines' housing and community development manager says it's the real deal.
"We offer it as a grant, because we want to help people and help their homes and make them safer," Christine Gordon says.
Gordon says federal funds from the Community Development Block Grant allows them to put nearly $200,000 towards this specific program, which the city itself created.
"I have not known of another community that's doing that. I hope more communities do it, but I just thought that there was a need. And so, let's look at doing something and be very specific to Radon, address it," Gordon tells vlog.
Gordon says two of the biggest factors to qualify: You must live in West Des Moines city limits. And you can't make more than 80% of the area median income adjusted for household size.
J.B. Shearer, also known as the Radon Man, is one of a handful of certified mitigation specialists the city provided the Ingersolls to choose from after they were approved for the program to test and then mitigate if the levels were higher than the EPA's limit of 4 picocuries per liter.
"This one is a little harder than average," Shearer tells vlog, because of the 20-foot crawl space they had to run piping through.
The system he installed has the Ingersolls' home testing at 2.2 pCi/L, down from the seven it was before
"Every house is fixable," Shearer says.
Providing priceless peace of mind, for a price the Ingersolls couldn't beat.
The city of West Des Moines tells vlog there are still plenty of funds left in the program.
If you want to know what resources exist in the city or county you live in to help test and mitigate for radon in your home, .
