Residents concerned about radiation in Seattle’s Magnuson Park

When you take your kids out for a day at the park, you expect them to get a little exercise and fresh air, and maybe come back just a little healthier. But what some families were being exposed to at Magnuson Park in Seattle could do a lot more harm than good.

Magnuson Park is the second largest park in Seattle with 350-acres that include indoor and outdoor ball fields and an off-leash dog area. But there’s one part of the park that’s off limits to families, an old building fenced off with chain link. Up until now, residents had no idea why.

But at a Wednesday night meeting, the public learned the site that was once owned by the Navy is contaminated with radiation.

“You don’t ignore your obligation to tell the public that these areas are radioactively contaminated,” Rep. Gerry Pollett told KING 5.

Concerned residents, and officials from the Navy and state attended Wednesday’s meeting.

The Navy explained it’s likely radiation comes from glow-in-the-dark paint residue used on aircraft dials during World War II. It’s known about it for years.

Pollett thinks it’s inexcusable that the public wasn’t told until now. “You have areas of pretty significant radiation. You have areas in a public park where you have children playing.”

Navy project manager Dina Ginn explains they’re not required to notify the public about the discovery of radiation, only about how they plan to clean it up.

Ginn says they’re planning a $9 million “time-critical” clean operation that will start in June and last about six months.

There’s little time for the public to have any input on how the cleanup will be handled, and that again led to some serious concerns from Rep. Pollett and other members of the Seattle community.

One of the issues is what level of radiation will be left even after the cleanup is complete. The state says it’s lower than the level the Navy would legally be allowed to leave at the site, but some people like Pollett don’t believe that’s enough.