Imagination Station Arsenic Levels Unlikely a Threat

Arsenic levels found at Brighton's Imagination Station is not significant enough to pose a health threat, a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality official said Tuesday.

Rebecca Taylor, an environmental quality analyst, said the levels of arsenic found last week on the playground's wood and mulch are unlikely to pose a threat of cancer. She said in higher levels, and over a 30-year period, there could be adverse health affects.

She said exposure to at least 7,600 parts per billion (ppb) of arsenic over an extended period could be dangerous. Arsenic levels recorded at Imagination Station's wood and mulch last week showed much lower amounts of the chemical—ranging from 1,400 ppb to 4,400 ppb.

But the arsenic in the soil at the playground could be cause for concern, Taylor said.

The levels ranged anywhere from 1,500 ppb to 54,000 ppb. The soil samples, taken from six inches below the surface, pose less of a threat for direct contact with people, but Taylor said they could still be a health and environmental hazard down the road. A few problems she pointed out included the soil being dug up to the surface during future construction or if the arsenic leacheing into the groundwater, which Taylor said could become a problem for the Mill Pond nearby.

The Imagination Station after the city received an inquiry about the quality of the playground's materials, the city stated in a press release. During the closure, the city conducted a review of the arsenic through its engineering firm, Tetra Tech. The , confirming the presence of arsenic in the park.

It was suspected by many people who are familiar with the Imagination Station that arsenic was in the wood and areas around it, because most wood used outdoors before 2004 was preserved with CCA, which contains arsenic, according to the U.S. Environmental Protction Agency.

According to the EPA, the use of CCA to treat most wood was phased out by 2004, but the EPA did not require the removal of structures already made with CCA wood. The Imagination Station was built in 1995.

The EPA conducted studies on coating the wood with penetrating stainers to lock in the arsenic. According to the EPA, results of those tests indicate that the application of those stainers at least once a year "can reduce potential exposure to arsenic."

Piet Lindhout, an architect who has headed a local volunteer group that  renovating the playground, said he personally stained the Imagination Station wood twice after it was built and before its maintenance was taken over by the city around 2000. However, the city has not responded to questions from Patch on its regularity of staining the playground since then.

MDEQ's Taylor shed some light on that question, saying that testing showed evidence of sealants at the Imagination Station.

"To collect the sample, they had to break through the sealant to get to the wood," she said about the test results, which were submitted to her and the MDEQ as part of the city's plans to remedy the problem. "That's the only way you can collect that sample." The last time the playground was sealed remains unclear.

The volunteer group headed by Lindhout suspected arsenic could be present in the park back in July. That prompted the first informal test of the playground's materials, made by Mark Sweatman of the Brighton Rotary Club.

The city received those results Aug. 10 and they were published with Tetra Tech's results, but Tetra Tech said that a direct comparison between theirs and Sweatman's test was not possible, because the firm did not know where Sweatman's samples were collected and from what depth of soil.

Sweatman's test results for the soil were much higher than the city's, ranging from 12,000 ppb to 180,000 ppb, and Lindhout said on Aug. 10 that he believed the initial test results from Sweatman prompted the city to close the park.

Taylor said a meeting between the city and the Department of Environmental Quality is scheduled for Aug. 24. Foster said last week that he will update the City Council and the public at Thursday's City Council meeting at for a summary of what has happened so far and what will happen next.