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A state-mandated environmental inspection has found elevated levels of cancer-causing radiation at a popular Bay Area spot for hikers and dog walkers, according to a new report.
Over the summer, the City of Albany hired hazardous waste experts from Cabrera Services to investigate the presence of radioactive waste at the Albany Valve. Albany Bulb, once a landfill for the city’s construction debris, is now home to scenic hiking trails and an extensive outdoor art collection. .
State regulators are investigating after discovering archival documents from 1980 that suggest the former Richmond Chemical Plant dumped 11,000 tons of waste at former landfills in Albany and Berkeley from 1960 to 1971. commanded. The documents indicated that the waste may have contained alum sludge, a sludge that could be radioactive. It is a by-product of aluminum processing.
Cabrera Services surveyed city-owned portions of the peninsula and found 10 areas with high levels of gamma rays, powerful electromagnetic energy that can penetrate human tissue and damage cells.
Cabrera engineers are recommending that Albany conduct soil sampling at three locations where they believe there may be buried alum sludge or radioactive materials.
Nearly 40 years after the city of Albany’s landfill closed, it has evolved into an outdoor art gallery filled with sculptures made of reclaimed wood, stone and metal. State regulators have long considered landfill materials hazardous waste, but that hasn’t deterred people from digging up trash from open landfills and turning it into whimsical works of art.
The new testing adds to serious public health and safety concerns for one of the Bay Area’s most cherished coastal communities. Gamma rays are of particular concern, said Daniel Hirsch, former director of environmental and nuclear policy at the University of California, Santa Cruz.This radiofrequency energy can pass through solid objects and human tissue, damaging DNA molecules and increasing the risk of cancer. It is said that there is a possibility of increasing
“It’s like firing a subatomic bomb into a cell,” Hirsch says. “There is no safe level. Every level carries some level of risk.”
However, California Department of Public Health officials said the initial gamma rays observed at the Albany light bulb presented a “low level of risk to the public.”
“While the findings show that the majority of the sites were consistent with normal background radiation levels, 10 locations showed elevated readings,” a CDPH spokesperson said. . “Our initial assessment shows that you would need to spend about 20 hours at high altitude to receive a dose equivalent to one dental x-ray.”
The colorful stone amphitheater is one of several art installations at Albany Bulb.
(Paul Clodagh/For the Times)
The Cabrera Service report noted that the Albany Light Bulb’s radioactivity is consistent with other landfills that accept construction waste, which can contain naturally radioactive materials such as granite. It remains unclear whether radiation levels are compatible with publicly accessible spaces.
“The city does not have enough information from the report to reach specific and definitive conclusions about the ultimate public health risk,” said Brennen Brown, a spokeswoman for the city of Albany. “The next investigation will involve soil sampling and shallow subsurface measurements to help inform the public’s level of risk. At this time, based on the information in the report, the city is making additional efforts to protect health and safety. I don’t see the need to take any action.”
Cabrera Services also said it was “unlikely” that the radioactivity was due to large deposits of alum mud. The report said other areas of the man-made peninsula likely received this waste, based on a review of historical documents.
Cabrera’s staff highlighted adjacent land owned by the East Bay Regional Park District that was previously a privately owned landfill.
However, Cabrera’s staff and Albany city officials did not immediately inform the East Bay Regional Park District. The park district only learned of the investigation and testing results after a Times reporter asked for comment.
Park district spokeswoman Jordan Traverso said regulators are not requiring an inspection of the property.
Meanwhile, the city of Berkeley is working to consider its own study of gamma rays at Cesar Chavez Park, built on top of a former city landfill. The city partnered with nuclear engineering researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, to fly survey drones over the 90-acre park and clear small areas on foot, said city spokesperson Soon Lee.
He said test results will be made public after researchers organize and analyze the data.
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