Great Kills Park Ballfields Are Radioactive

The National Parks Service has closed ballfields at Great Kills Park on Staten Island because radium was found in the soil. The Advance reports, "The startling find means that the park's five ballfields, located between Bay Terrace and Fieldway Avenue, will not be available all spring for league play." Though the "risk of significant exposure" is believed to be "very low," the NPS wants to do a secondary survey. Previously detected radioactive spots at the park have "equaled a fraction of the radiation used in a chest X-ray"; past radium was found in paints used in dental equipment, perhaps left there when Great Kills was a dump. Now, sports leagues must relocated: Some of the activities will be at Gateway's Miller Fields "while others will be played at fields provided by the city Parks Department."