The La Plata County Public Health Department will be moving to three new locations in Durango over the next few months. Most of our public health programs – such as environmental health, birth and death certificates, and community health programs – will be moving on Jan. 21 to a new location at 185 Suttle St. in Bodo Park behind the Comfort Inn and Suites Durango. Meanwhile, the Public Health Clinic and Water Quality Lab will remain at 281 Sawyer Drive in Bodo Park until March.
The Public Health Clinic and Water Lab are waiting to move until construction is complete at their new respective locations. The Public Health Clinic will be moving in March to 150 Mercury Village Drive in the Axis Building past the Durango Stadium 9 movie theater. The Water Lab will also move in March to 10 Burnett Court in the Durango Tech Center. More information will be provided once these move dates are confirmed.
The Public Health Department is moving to take advantage of county-owned properties and to develop spaces to best perform our mission of protecting the health of our community. Directions and maps will be provided at our current location to help clients find the service they seek. The La Plata County Public Health webpage, www.lpcpublichealth.org, will contain a map and QR code with the new locations and directions from one location to another.
Please call the Health Department at 247-5702 if you have any questions about our new locations or to inquire about our services.
January is also National Radon Action Month. The La Plata County Public Health Department would like to highlight this important event that sheds light on the dangers of radon, the second-leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the United States after cigarette smoking.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes from the breakdown of uranium in the soil. Radon can enter your home from the soil beneath it. Approximately 50% of homes in Colorado have radon levels higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended action level.
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers in the U.S. and is responsible for approximately 500 lung cancer deaths annually in Colorado. The average indoor radon level in Colorado is about five times higher than the national average, while La Plata County is just over four times the national average. Living in a home with average levels of radon in Colorado for one year is like having more than 200 chest X-rays. That’s more than three chest X-rays per week, per person, per year.
The best way to protect against radon is to perform a simple, low-cost or free test of your home. The Public Health Department is currently offering free radon education and free radon testing kits while supplies last. Please visit the La Plata County radon website, www.lpcgov.org/radon, for further details on getting your testing kit today.
If previous or current radon levels are known by a home seller, they must be disclosed to a potential buyer. In all cases, sellers should provide copies of any test results to potential buyers. If a radon mitigation system exists, it should also be disclosed, as it is presumed that radon had existed previously, and, if the system were to fail, the radon level could return to its original level.
Reducing radon is easy and inexpensive. Considerable research has been conducted in Colorado and elsewhere that provides evidence-based practices for mitigating radon in homes, schools, and commercial buildings. The techniques are straightforward and reliable. Mitigation should be done by a certified contractor who will install the system according to Radon Mitigation Standards and local building codes. A list of NRPP- or NRSB-certified radon mitigation contractors is available at www.coloradoradon.info.
Homeowners who already have radon mitigation systems should retest their homes every few years to make sure the system is working properly. Learn more about radon and find resources on the La Plata County Public Health Department’s website, www.lpcgov.org/radon.
Steve Prosise coordinates the Healthy Homes program and is an environmental health specialist at the La Plata County Public Health Department. He can be reached at sprosise@lpcgov.org.