The Dakota County Radon Guide: Living in EPA Zone 1
What Zone 1 means, how testing works, and what mitigation costs and achieves.
Dakota County sits in EPA Radon Zone 1 — the highest-risk category, where the predicted average indoor radon level exceeds the 4.0 pCi/L action level. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that seeps from soil into the lower levels of homes, and long-term exposure is a leading cause of lung cancer. In a river-valley town full of walkout basements, this is not a box-checking exercise.
Why Hastings homes are higher risk
Two things stack the odds: the regional geology that puts Dakota County in Zone 1, and the local prevalence of basements and walkouts that give soil gas a direct path indoors. A walkout basement that is finished and lived in is exactly the kind of space where a measured level matters most.
How testing works
A proper test uses a continuous monitor over a minimum of 48 hours in closed-house conditions, or a lab-analyzed kit over a longer window. The result is a number you can act on. We deliver it with the inspection report rather than leaving you to interpret a kit alone.
What a high reading means
Mitigation is routine and effective. A sub-slab depressurization system — a fan and a pipe that vents soil gas above the roofline — typically brings levels well below the action threshold for a predictable cost. A high reading is a solvable problem, not a reason to walk, as long as you know about it and budget for it.