Sleuths searched on Wednesday for the source of radiation in this Canadian capital's sewers after two shipments of sludge were turned away from the US border for being too hot.
"So far, our hazardous materials team found nothing but background radiation levels at our waste treatment plant, and experts came in this morning but also found nothing unusual," the city's spokesman Michael Fitzpatrick told AFP.
"We can't find any radioactivity," he said.
Ottawa's solid waste is shipped to four locations in North America for use mostly as compost. Water separated from it ends up in local rivers.
Last week, US border officials turned away two shipments headed for upstate New York after detecting high levels of radiation. Since then, the shipments have been quarantined at an Ontario waste facility.
Tests on the city's drinking water and a preliminary inspection of its sewage treatment plant failed to find the source of the contamination.
Experts now are trying to identify the radioactive isotopes to narrow their source, said officials. These markers are much like DNA or fingerprints.
It is believed the irradiated materials may have entered the plant from pipes leading to the facility.
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