What is the danger to residents of radium streets?
Because the radium material is bound in and shielded by asphalt, EPA has determined that the streets pose a minimal danger to residents. In addition, the radium material put down decades ago has been overlaid a number of times with uncontaminated layers of asphalt. Currently the radium is only exposed during construction activities that require cutting the street, such as utility repair or replacement. The City has managed the contamination by requiring any project that disturbs more than 20 percent of a block will remove all contaminated material on the entire block. The 2007 reconstruction of Jason Street, Park Avenue West and 9th , Corona, and York Streets is a proactive effort to remove all contaminated material and replace it with uncontaminated asphalt.
