BRENTWOOD - In recent weeks, park-goers and neighbors of Barrington Avenue Dog Park and the Brentwood School community have been talking about the possibility that radioactive waste lies buried tens of feet below the grass, dirt, and wood chips.  

The initial scare began in May, when Michael Collins published his findings in City Beat that the Veterans Administration and UCLA had used the lands “as a dumping ground for at least 13 different radioactive isotopes and poisons for 16 years during the height of the Cold War, many of them in the bodies and tissues of animal and human radiation experimentation subjects.”  

Dog owners and their pets, families, and athletes of Brentwood school all use this land, located on Barrington Ave. just south of Sunset Blvd.

Since Collins’s first article was published on May 18^th, City Beat has continued to update the story, publishing written correspondences between Collins and Charles Dorman, Director of Veteran’s Affairs at the VA, and community meetings have been held to determine the safety of the park and its surrounding areas. City officials are working with the community to figure out what steps need to be taken to ensure public—and canine—safety.  According to the publication, Councilman Bill Rosendahl assured, “I share concern and am committed to resolving, beyond any doubt, that all hazardous contamination in West L.A. is identified, contained, and cleaned up.”

However, nothing conclusive has yet come of Collins’s studies; he firmly backs up his report as entirely truthful, but Dorman’s letters have insisted the article includes “misinformation and misrepresentation of the facts.” Dorman claims that “the property has been evaluated extensively and environmental experts have determined that the property is not a hazard to the health of the community,” but Collins remains skeptical that the waste generated at the VA and UCLA hospitals in the 1950s and 60s is safely deposited just below the surface. 

Regardless of the contradicting information about the dangers of radiation, the park remains open and busy with families and their pets. On the afternoon of Sunday, July 23^rd, the dog park will hold its 2^nd annual “Bark-B-Q,” featuring food, live music, and giveaways.