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17 <br />It is significant that the radon activity overall in Orange is lower than observed in <br />Guilford -but still worthy of note and further analysis. This difFerence may be <br />explained in part by the older age of the granitic plutons underlying south central <br />Orange, as compared to younger formations in Guilford. <br />The County's Environmental Health office is aware of the radon findings and is <br />prepared to assist property owners who may have concerns about potential <br />radon levels. Radon test kits are available from Environmental Health to help test <br />for high radon readings in air and water. <br />NOTE; The Committee's recommendations regarding the radon findings may be <br />found in Section VI, beginning on page ~0. <br />For more, information on these water quality samples and results, <br />please see the USGS Ground Water Resource Investigation report. <br />H. Susceptibility to Contamination <br />To address the question of the likelihood of contamination of ground water <br />supplies, the USGS developed a parallel GIS analysis to indicate susceptibility to <br />contamination. The map results of this analysis were eventually published as a <br />map report "Susceptibility of Ground Water to Surface and Shallow Sources of <br />Contamination, Orange County, NC." These data are available from USGS as part <br />of their digital mapping product for the County, and will be incorporated into the <br />Comprehensive Resource GIS Database. <br />Generally, three contributing factors to indicate susceptibility were used to <br />compute this index: <br />1. Soil permeability <br />2. Land use/land cover, and <br />3. Slope <br />Each of these factors was evaluated through data in the GIS database and <br />mapped (please see Map 2). The range of values were assigned a <br />"contamination potential" rating, which was then used to calculate an overall <br />relative susceptibility value. <br />Generally, land with high ground, less permeable soils and forested land use <br />have the lowest susceptibility to contamination. Conversely, low-lying areas that <br />have permeable soils and higher risk land use (underground storage tanks) have <br />the highest potential for contamination. <br />1n <br />