Cancer-Causing Radiation Levels Detected At Bay Area Park: Report

ALBANY, CA — A colorful stone amphitheater, trails for dog walkers and creative installations — a Bay Area art park that has become a popular destination was found to have elevated levels of cancer-causing radiation, according to new reports.

The city of Albany, about 14 miles east of San Francisco, hired Cabrera Services Inc. to search for hazardous radioactive waste at the Albany Bulb, a park that was once a landfill for construction debris, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The company reportedly found 10 areas with elevated levels of gamma radiation, according to the newspaper. Gamma radiation can enter human tissue and damage cells, increasing a person's risk for developing cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While Albany's municipal landfill closed some 40 years ago, a 1980 archival document suggested that waste dumped at the site may have included alum mud, a radioactive sludge.

“It’s like subatomic bullets being fired at the cells,” Daniel Hirsch, retired director of environmental and nuclear policy at UC Santa Cruz told the Times. “There is no safe level. Every level carries some risk.”

However, the California Department of Public Health has said the levels of observed gamma radiation at Albany Bulb present a "low level of risk to the public."

An investigation is ongoing.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times: Elevated radiation detected at former Bay Area landfill turned art park