The findings infuriated dissenting former members of the Pasadena Citizens' Task Force on Radium in Well Water who said the study's sole author, former physics professor Lester Ettlinger, skewed the findings to fit his bias against public water. Both Mr. Ettlinger and County Council Chairman Shirley Murphy, D-Pasadena, say extending public water to Pasadena will spur growth by 25 percent in the waterfront community.

Sparks flew at yesterday's news conference when dissenting member William DeLawder called Mr. Ettlinger "biased" against public water.

"That's nonsense. I'm more than deeply offended," Mr. Ettlinger said. "This is part of the problem, accusing me of being biased. Bill, it's just irresponsible."

The report suggests short-term remedies including the continued use of water treatment devices such as ionexchange and reverse osmosis systems, bottled water, digging deeper wells, but dismissed public water service as too costly and time-consuming.

The report was released five months after the Pasadena Citizens' Task Force on Radium in Well Water dissolved, torn over whether public water should come to Pasadena.

Mr. Ettlinger said he left the group because the other members were bent on endorsing county water and ignored the fact that public water is a time-consuming, expensive undertaking that wouldn't address the shortterm needs of water with high radium levels.

While Mr. Ettlinger said the four other members wanted county water no matter what the facts, four members of the Pasadena Citizens' Task Force on Radium in Well Water Mr. DeLawder, Alison Asti, Anthony Mantione and Paula Tiber said Mr. Ettlinger disregarded their suggestions.

"We didn't have any input at all," Mr. DeLawder said.

Specifically, Mr. DeLawder wanted the study to include remarks on county-run, community wells and language that would hold contractors responsible for the well water's quality. Mr. DeLawder also said the task force never even discussed the deeper well option.

The study, citing various federal, state and local government sources,

said 63 percent of 835 wells tested in the county contained radium levels exceeding federal standards. About 10,000 homes in Pasadena use well water.

Radium is a naturally occurring, radioactive metal found in groundwater. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers 15 picocuries per liter the maximum safe level of radium in public water.

Prolonged exposure to radium can cause bone cancer.

The county's radium problem surfaced in 1997, when a study showed above-normal levels of the metal in 22 of 50 wells studied throughout the county, with the highest levels found in Pasadena, Millersville and Crownsville.

ssawyers@mdgazette.com

The study, authored by former physics professor Lester A. Ettlinger, was ordered by County Council Chairman Shirley Murphy as a fact-finding report.

Addressing one of the worst pockets of carcinogenic radiumcontaminated well water in the country, the 70-page study was meant to offer several short-term solutions for peninsula residents.