SUN JOURNAL • May 5, 2026
A year and a half ago, Christy Crocker, director of the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council, was working with an enthusiastic school district to help test for radon in its building when all of a sudden, administrators called it off. She understood that for the small district, it likely wasn’t a priority. Something that can’t be seen, smelled or tasted doesn’t feel real, Crocker said, and school districts facing numerous financial pressures have to pick their battles. Maine passed a law in 2019 encouraging schools to test for radon. In March, Maine released the first progress report detailing five years of school testing data. Elevated radon levels existed in at least one room in nearly a quarter of buildings tested. In some, levels were much higher than the point where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends taking action. However, only 12% of all Maine schools, have been tested.