Editorial: Complete radon effort in 2025

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We welcome the news from the provincial government that, contrary to earlier statements regarding its efforts to eliminate hazardous radon gas from Public Housing and Rural and Native Housing units this winter, it has now revised the numbers, without explanation, saying that about 60 per cent are now remediated, rather than only the 43 per cent it recently announced.

We previously noted the lower number was unacceptable after assurances in May by Minister Responsible for Housing Jill Green that all government housing would be remediated this winter. The numbers then were so far off target as to be unacceptable considering how dangerous radon can be to health.

And while correlation isn’t causation, we’re pleased to see that the jump in results appears to align with a series of journalistic reports on the radon issue.

Whatever the reason, it’s good news for New Brunswickers that the government appears to have unexpectedly, in very short order, got much better remediation results.

Radon gas is a well-known serious health hazard, but not that hard or expensive to remediate. Not doing so will prematurely kill many people exposed to it over many years. Hence the urgency and need to avoid complacency.

Residents of public housing still needing remediation next winter can relax until then. That’s because the gas seeping up through basement floors only gets concentrated enough to be dangerous in winter, when some houses are poorly ventilated. Proper ventilation will not allow it to concentrate enough to cause harm. In summer, with windows and doors often open, so little is present it’s hard to even detect. Hence all the government’s housing ought to be remediated next winter.

It could also justify offering private homeowners relatively small interest-free loans to test or remediate their houses as money-saving preventative healthcare. It’s worth investigating.