Local families and remediation experts share common sentiments about the value of radon testing

When Darcy and Audrey Undseth bought their southwest walkout bungalow in 2009, they were just learning of the dangers of radon gas.

Audrey, a doctor, had seen articles in medical journals on hazardous radon levels in basements.

The pair's son, Brennan, slept in a basement bedroom, and the Undseths wondered if they should test for radon – an invisible, tasteless, odourless radioactive gas that naturally occurs when uranium in the ground breaks down.

Feedback to follow homes' demolition

More than a dozen homes in Elbow Park that were damaged in the 2013 floods are now slated for demolition, prompting Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi to seek feedback from area residents on their vision for the community's long-term recovery.

Community members will have the opportunity to meet with the minister and mayor in January to help determine the short-term use of the properties sold to the province as part of the floodway relocation program.

New policy could mean changes to remediation and disclosure

The Alberta government has accepted 37 recommendations which could mean large scale changes to the way the province deals with grow-ops.

The recommendations, which are the result of a consultation with key stakeholders from the housing industry as well as an expert panel that included members of the Calgary Police Service and Alberta Health Services address concerns about the health, safety and remediation of former marijuana grow-operations.

Heading west on Highway 1A, travellers descending into Cochrane down the 'Big Hill' are greeted with a stunning mountain vista slightly marred by a very large gravel lot right in the middle of town.

Between 1964 and 1988, the area was home to Domtar, a wood treatment facility who, according to the Cochrane Eagle newspaper, used a tar/creosote mixture consisting of semi-volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and pentachlorophenol to treat to railway ties leading to the contamination of the soil.