“They certainly should have been testing at other places,” said Ruth Cole, 59, the
tenant with the highest recorded radon level at Dahlke Manor.
“They’re playing catch-up,” she said.
A worker shows a component of a radon removal system at Winchell Court in Portland, Oregon. The local housing
authority did not start testing public housing in earnest until 2017. At Northeast Portland’s Dahlke Manor, the
apartment of Ruth Cole, 59, had radioactivity nearly eight times the federal standard.
The agency has now discovered radon at a total of 17 public housing complexes.
About half of those weren’t tested until April, when elevated radiation levels were
found in nearly 100 units. Almost none of the 100 had been xed as of late
September.
A dozen tenants at Townhouse Terrace in outer Southeast Portland learned about
their results in September — from a reporter. Home Forward’s radon policy at the
time set no deadline for informing tenants.
Maribel Rivas’ apartment tested nearly six times the federal standard.
“My goodness, that worries me,” said Rivas, a mother of ve who has lived in her
apartment for seven years. “Not for me, but for my kids.”
Upset tenants complained to Home Forward during an October meeting.
One resident who learned about her results weeks earlier from a reporter told the
gathered of cials: “This person that didn’t know me is more concerned about the
health of myself and my kids than the people who are supposed to be.”
As it turned out, the housing authority convened the meeting in a cramped
Townhouse Terrace community room with elevated levels of radon.