Radiation pills now available

The state Department of Health is distributing potassium iodide, or KI, pills today and tomorrow to residents who live or work near a nuclear power station such as Three Mile Island. The pills protect the thyroid from radioactive iodine, which can be released during a nuclear accident. The pills will be available from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the following locations: • Harrisburg Mall, upper level center court, 3601 Paxton St. • Masonic Village, Freemasons Cultural Center, 1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown. The announcement, made by the Health Department on Aug. 27, left Middletown Mayor Robert Reid and his emergency management staff scratching their heads. Because of an oversight, the borough was never notified of the distribution. Reid also criticized the state’s decision to distribute the pills at the Harrisburg Mall. “How many of our people are going to drive up there to get their KI pills?” Reid asked yesterday. “Not very many.”

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