If you’re heading out onto the flats of West Texas this weekend and along the way you happen upon a small silver cylinder with red writing on it, whatever you do, don’t touch it.
The Department of State Health Services warns that the cylinder, approximately seven inches long and an inch across, contains radioactive Americium-241/Beryllium, lost by a Halliburton crew out evaluating oil and gas wells outside of Pecos. By the time the crew got to Odessa they realized the protective shield that holds the device was unlocked and the cylinder was missing, according to a press release.
While the substance isn’t considered “highly radioactive” it “could expose someone who comes into close contact with it for an extended period of time a harmful dose of radiation,” reads the press release. DSHS asks anyone who might come across the cylinder to call police. DSHS is working with law enforcement and the Austin-based 6th Civil Support Team of the Texas National Guard to locate the material.
This article appears in September 14 • 2012.