UNDT NEEDS MORE CONTRACTS September 11, 2012 - Toronto Star - Radon monitors placed in 464 Port Hope homes - The big cleanup has started small. A gadget smaller than a can of pop is measuring levels of radon gas in more than 450 Port Hope homes, as part of the initial radiological survey involved in cleaning up the town. Property-owners were told of the benefits of the monitor, and 93 per cent of those approached agreed to having it installed, said Walter van Veen, Port Hope project director for the Port Hope Area Initiative. The agency is in charge of the cleanup of the town riddled with low-level radioactive waste. “That’s extraordinary access to homes,” he said, adding that very few residents said no to the radon monitor. The 464 homes are in six neighbourhoods scattered all over Port Hope, two close to Highway 401. The monitors — two in every house: one for the basement, one for the main floor — will stay in the houses for a month and data will be collected. In winter, the monitors will measure radon gas again. The project will then move on to interior and exterior gamma radiation scanning and soil sampling.