Radioactive substance inside stolen equipment

5/30/2001

A gauge with radioactive material that is used to measure soil moisture and density at construction sites was stolen Sunday from a parked pickup truck at the Inverness II mobile home park in Temperance, Monroe County sheriff's deputies said.

The device poses no threat unless it is broken up or mishandled, officials of Bowser-Morner, Inc., a Toledo firm that owns the gauge, said.

The company is asking anybody with information about it to call the firm at 691-4800 and ask for Richard Allen, or Monroe County sheriff's deputies at 734-243-7070. A $200 reward is being offered for information leading to its recovery.

The gauge was made by Troxler Electronic Labs and weighs about 35 pounds. It has a yellow cover with a carrying handle at the end of two steel rods. It was in a locked plastic container marked with radioactive material labels.