News Release
March 24, 2010
(Update: The missing lead containers filled with radioactive material
were located that evening by the City of Alice Police Department in conjunction
with a search by DSHS.)
The Texas Department of State Health Services is looking for six small lead
containers filled with a potentially dangerous radioactive material that were
stolen late Friday night from a private company’s pickup truck parked outside
the Walmart store in Alice.
The containers were in a clear plastic bag that was taken from a toolbox in
the back of the truck. Each metal container is shrink-wrapped and contains a
glass vial of ceramic granules called radioactive tracer “sand,” used in the oil
and gas industry.
A person handling the containers or the sand could be at risk of radiation
exposure.
DSHS officials said anyone who has information about the containers should
call their local police or sheriff’s department or DSHS at (512) 458-7460.
The truck is owned by ProTechnics, a Houston-based company. The company is
offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the
containers.
A photograph of the bag is available here: www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/images/Ir-192-Six-Pack.jpg.
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(News Media Contact: Carrie Williams, Acting Press
Officer, 512-458-7119.)
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