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The McKenna Firm, LLC represents clients in a variety of actions that can be brought under federal and state environmental laws, such as civil enforcement, tort, trespass, breach of contract, property damage and personal injury claims.

 

The McKenna Firm, LLC handles toxic tort cases aggressively and effectively; pursuing the best possible outcome for our clients.

TERM, Technologically Enhanced Radioactive Material, is produced when activities such as uranium mining, or sewage sludge treatment, concentrate or expose naturally occurring radioactive materials in ores, soils, water, or other natural materials.

TENORM is defined by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences as: Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials are any naturally occurring radioactive materials not subject to regulation under the Atomic Energy Act whose radio nuclide concentrations or potential for human exposure have been increased above levels encountered in the natural state by human activities.

While federal and state agencies have tried to develop ways to protect humans and the environment from harmful exposure to the radiation in these materials, TERM remains a challenging problem in the United States. This is due to the many industries and types of products that potentially contribute to excess radiation production such as mineral extractions and refining, oil and gas production, drinking water treatment processes and wastewater treatment plants

NORM is an acronym for Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material, which includes all radioactive elements found in the environment. Long-lived radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. These elements have always been present in the earth’s crust and within tissues of all living beings.

Although the concentration of NORM in most natural substances is low, higher concentrations may arise as a result of human activities. For example radium may be precipitated out in scale that forms in a natural gas processing pipe or radon decay products may concentrate on the turbine blades of a natural gas pump.

• This enhancement of natural radioactivity has been found in:
• Petroleum and natural gas production
• Mineral extraction and processing
• Metal recycling
• Forest products and thermal – electric production
• Water treatment facilities
• Tunneling and underground workings

If you or someone close to you have suffered personal or property damage injury due to possible exposure to TERM/NORM toxic substances, call or email us for a consultation.