Reeling-in radon

"Mitigation isn’t rocket science stuff. It’s actually very common sense stuff," said Bonnie Christensen of the Idaho Radon Project and South Central Health District.

"If your home has elevated levels of radon, it can be easily fixed," she said.

Coupons for free test kits are available from the Blaine County Building Department. Processing takes about five days.

There are also several state-licensed professional radon testers in the Wood River Valley.

To fix a home with high radon levels, a seal must be made separating the ground from the interior of the home. This can be done with a polyethylene cover in the crawl space.

Then a PVC pipe and fan, installed either in a wall or outside the home, draws the gas sealed under the home out into the air.

Prices for a system run about $500 or $600, Christensen said.

"It is much better to install a system as the house is built," she added. "And, it’s much cheaper if someone has their contractors doing it in the first place rather than trying to snake a pipe through standing walls."

The South Central Health District is considering offering a swap of septic system fees for installation of a radon system as a home is built, Christensen said.