Iowa has some of the highest radon levels in the nation. By July of 2027, every public school building in Iowa must have tested for naturally occurring, cancer-causing radon gas. They’re also required to post the results of that testing on their websites. With two years to go, fewer than half of school districts have met that requirement.
Today, we look at why many schools aren’t testing for radon — and how the Iowa Department of Education has responded to an investigation by The Midwest Newsroom.
We start by hearing from Bill Orcutt, the husband of the late Gail Orcutt. Her years of advocacy helped pass a law requiring schools to test for radon…