State-ordered environmental testing has uncovered elevated ranges of cancer-causing radiation at a well-liked spot for hikers and canine walkers within the Bay Space, in accordance with a brand new report.
Over the summer time, town of Albany employed hazardous waste specialists with Cabrera Providers Inc. to survey for the presence of radioactive waste on the Albany Bulb, a former municipal landfill for development particles that now options scenic mountaineering trails and a sprawling assortment of outside artwork.
State regulators ordered the investigation after discovering a 1980 archival doc that recommended a former Richmond chemical plant dumped 11,000 tons of waste on the former Albany and Berkeley landfill from 1960 to 1971. The doc indicated the waste might have included alum mud — a doubtlessly radioactive sludge and byproduct of aluminum processing.
After surveying the city-owned portion of the peninsula, Cabrera Providers discovered 10 areas with elevated ranges of gamma radiation — highly effective electromagnetic power that may penetrate human tissue and harm cells.
Cabrera technicians are recommending that Albany conduct soil sampling in three locations, the place it decided alum mud or a radioactive object could also be buried.
Almost 4 many years after Albany’s municipal landfill closed, it has advanced into an outside artwork gallery full of sculptures produced from reclaimed wooden, stone and metallic. Though state regulators have deemed landfill supplies as hazardous waste, it hasn’t deterred individuals from unearthing the refuse from the uncapped landfill and that includes it in eccentric items of artwork.
The brand new testing provides to the intense public well being and security considerations for one of many Bay Space’s most cherished coastal areas. Gamma radiation is especially regarding as this high-frequency power can transfer via stable objects and human tissue, damaging DNA molecules and elevating an individual’s danger for most cancers, in accordance with Daniel Hirsch, retired director of environmental and nuclear coverage at UC Santa Cruz.
“It’s like subatomic bullets being fired at the cells,” Hirsch mentioned. “There is no safe level. Every level carries some risk.”
California Division of Public Well being officers, nonetheless, mentioned the preliminary gamma radiation noticed on the Albany Bulb introduced a “low level of risk to the public.”
“The survey results indicate that most of the site is consistent with normal background radiation levels, but 10 locations showed elevated readings,” a CDPH spokesperson mentioned. “Our initial assessment shows that a person would have to spend approximately 20 hours on an elevated area to receive a dose equivalent to one dental X-ray.”
A colourful stone amphitheater is certainly one of a number of artwork installations within the Albany Bulb.
(Paul Kuroda / For The Occasions)
The Cabrera Providers report famous the radioactivity on the Albany Bulb is in step with different landfills that settle for development particles, which can include naturally radioactive materials, equivalent to granite. It stays unclear whether or not the degrees of radiation are suitable for a publicly accessible area.
“The City doesn’t have enough information from the report to reach specific, final conclusions on ultimate public health risk,” mentioned Brennen Brown, spokesperson for town of Albany. “The next round of investigation will include soil sampling and shallow subsurface measurements that will help inform public risk levels. At this time, based on the information from the report, the City is not aware of any need to take additional actions to protect health and safety.”
Cabrera Providers additionally mentioned it’s “unlikely” the radioactivity is from giant deposits of alum mud. Primarily based on a evaluate of historic paperwork, it mentioned different elements of the man-made peninsula most likely accepted this waste.
Cabrera workers highlighted adjoining tracts of land owned by the East Bay Regional Park District, which had beforehand been a privately owned landfill.
Cabrera workers and Albany metropolis officers, nonetheless, didn’t instantly inform the East Bay Regional Park District. The Park District solely realized in regards to the findings and check outcomes after a Occasions reporter reached out for remark.
Jordan Traverso, a spokesperson for the Park District, mentioned regulators had not requested for them to check its property.
In the meantime, town of Berkeley is working towards analyzing its personal survey for gamma radiation at Cesar Chavez Park, which was constructed atop the previous municipal landfill. The town partnered with UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering researchers to fly a drone survey over the 90-acre park and sweep small areas on foot, in accordance with metropolis spokesperson Seung Lee.
The check outcomes, he mentioned, will probably be launched after researchers clear and analyze the information.
