Clare Lewis stands outside her home in Rowena Dell, Oregon, which had unsafe levels of radon that likely caused her to contract lung cancer in January 2023. Lewis mitigated her home through Cascade Radon, is now cancer-free and recently completed a 300-mile pilgrimage in France to raise awareness about the carcinogenic gas, during which she injured her foot.
A schematic of an exterior, active radon mitigation system. A PVC (polyvinyl chloride) vent pipe runs beneath the concrete foundation and a fan pulls radon from the underlying soil, releasing gas above the roofline.
A radon vent pipe (center) atop Trent Kroll’s house in Odell, Oregon. Kroll paid just over $1,800 for his interior, passive radon mitigation system, which included a vapor barrier and perforated pipe beneath his foundation, and a vent pipe without a fan. According to Wade Gervais, the president of Cascade Radon, mitigation systems in Hood River cost between $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the type of system and size of home.
Clare Lewis stands outside her home in Rowena Dell, Oregon, which had unsafe levels of radon that likely caused her to contract lung cancer in January 2023. Lewis mitigated her home through Cascade Radon, is now cancer-free and recently completed a 300-mile pilgrimage in France to raise awareness about the carcinogenic gas, during which she injured her foot.
Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, and Gorge dwellings are at moderate risk
THE GORGE — When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, former physical therapist and practicing psychologist Clare Lewis set up an at-home gym in her basement to exercise amid the isolation. After two years of breathing hard and heavy downstairs, Lewis was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January 2023 — even though she never smoked.
“I’ve always led a pretty healthy lifestyle,” said Lewis, who used to compete in triathlons. “I kept thinking this has got to be a mistake.”
Following the diagnosis, two of her brothers suggested that Lewis test the level of radon, a gas primarily emitted from the natural decay of uranium, in her home. As it turned out, there were 12 picocuries of radon per liter of air (pCi/L) in her basement, well above the 4 pCi/L actionable limit established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to the American Lung Association, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. and results in about 21,000 deaths annually. Oregon State University also recently published a study that found a link between childhood leukemia and radon exposure below the federal mitigation level.
The EPA classifies homes in Hood River, Klickitat and Wasco Counties as having a moderate risk of elevated radon levels, but to understand why requires diving deep into geologic time.
Approximately 15,000 years ago, the Clark Fork River ice dam in western Montana repeatedly ruptured, unleashing a torrent of glacial lake water that ripped through eastern Washington, down the Columbia Gorge and inundated the Willamette Valley, otherwise known as the Missoula Floods. Geologists estimate these waters raced at speeds up to 80 miles per hour and carried several types of sediments, including granite, which is high in uranium.
Wade Gervais is the president of Cascade Radon, one of few companies that provides radon testing and mitigation services in Oregon and Washington. He explained how homes, whether they have a basement or a crawl space, cause a difference in pressure that essentially pulls radon through cracks, septic drains or any other openings in the foundation.
“As heat rises within the house, it creates convection and suction in the footprint of that foundation, and then you have soil gas wanting to escape to the atmosphere,” said Gervais. There’s a risk of radon intrusion essentially in all buildings touching the ground and you can’t see, taste or smell the gas if it enters — it all depends on what sediments lie beneath.
Unfortunately for Lewis and her husband Jim, their house in Rowena Dell, about 10 miles east of downtown The Dalles, rests in a basalt canyon but sits on granite deposited by the Missoula Floods. “As soon as we found out about the high levels, we got it mitigated,” she said.
And the process is relatively simple: Give the gas another route to escape. This typically involves installing a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe into the foundation and running it through the roof if space allows, or along a home’s exterior, which usually requires a fan since there isn’t natural convection. Other measures include installing a vapor barrier and perforated pipe beneath the foundation, adding extra insulation and concentrating radon into the vent pipe. Generally, one vent pipe per 2000 square feet provides adequate mitigation, according to Gervais.
A schematic of an exterior, active radon mitigation system. A PVC (polyvinyl chloride) vent pipe runs beneath the concrete foundation and a fan pulls radon from the underlying soil, releasing gas above the roofline.
Graphic courtesy Cascade Radon
While there is no known safe level of exposure to radon, Lewis was able to drive her cancer back by mitigating her home and receiving medication from Oregon Health and Science University. She has a rare form of lung cancer that only afflicts 1-2% of patients, occurring when the ROS1 gene fuses with another gene and causes uncontrolled malign growth, according to the American Lung Association.
Scientists have yet to identify any molecular cues that explicitly link radon to lung cancer and radon’s association with other types of cancer remains unclear. Luckily, though, ROS1-positive lung cancer is treatable with a medication called entrectinib, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in 2019.
“[The doctors] told me it’s not a death sentence. This is a cancer you can live with,” Lewis said. When her appointment was over, she asked, “Can I hug you guys? You just gave me my life back.”
Fast forward a year and a half. Lewis doesn’t have any cancer cells in her body; however, she understands that her case is unique. This past May, she completed a 300-mile pilgrimage across the Pyrenees Mountains in southern France to raise awareness about radon and fundraise money for more lung cancer research.
“I’m just so adamant. I don’t want anyone else to end up getting cancer who doesn’t need to,” said Lewis. So far, she’s raised just over $4,500.
Through the Oregon Health Authority’s Radon Awareness Program, 344 homes in Hood River and 119 homes in The Dalles have provided publicly available radon test results, and the average level across these sites is 3.4 pCi/L and 1.7 pCi/L, respectively. There is little data available for Klickitat County, but you can find information by visiting the Washington State Department of Health’s website.
In April 2011, Oregon passed building code 1812, mandating that most new residential construction in seven counties, including Hood River, implement radon mitigation measures. While the code ensures all new homes have a vent pipe below the foundation, it does not require radon testing or other forms of mitigation that might be necessary.
“You could build completely to code and still have a high level of radon in your house,” said Mark Van Voast, the building official for Hood River County. “Building code in Oregon is the minimum standard.” There’s also a long history of federal and local housing authorities ignoring radon risks in public housing projects across the country, endangering already marginalized people as reporting from The Oregonian shows.
When Trent Kroll added onto his Odell home in 2013, he and his wife, Darla, mitigated for radon even though their indoor levels were around 0.3 pCI/L, similar to ambient levels outdoors. Ultimately, the price of mitigating was just a fraction of the total cost of their addition, so they went for it.
A radon vent pipe (center) atop Trent Kroll’s house in Odell, Oregon. Kroll paid just over $1,800 for his interior, passive radon mitigation system, which included a vapor barrier and perforated pipe beneath his foundation, and a vent pipe without a fan. According to Wade Gervais, the president of Cascade Radon, mitigation systems in Hood River cost between $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the type of system and size of home.
Nate Wilson photo
“If the spray (pesticides) doesn’t get you, if the smoke doesn’t get you, you might as well do something about radon if you can,” Kroll said. Generally, Gervais noted that Hood River Valley is a radon hotspot, especially for homes on Straight Hill Road, but that any structure could present a radon risk.
If 1,000 people who never smoked were exposed to a radon level of 20 pCi/L over their lifetime, the EPA estimates 36 of those people would develop lung cancer. For smokers at the same exposure level, that number multiplies to 250 people. According to Gervais, one in four Oregon homes have radon levels that pose a danger to health.
The first step to addressing radon risk is testing your home. Radon tests are available at most local department stores, or you could contact Cascade Radon at 503-421-4813 to learn about their testing services.
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