The proposed site of a youth sports complex is being protested by a citizen’s group because there may be higher levels of radiation there than the rest of Ames.

The field is located next to the old Ames Water Treatment Facility where sewage containing radioactive thorium was deposited by the Ames Lab from 1951-53.

Radiation tests were done by the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (ORISE) and published in a report by an ad hoc citizen’s group headed by City Council member Pat Brown and other city residents.

But Kevin Teal, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), said, “We are convinced that the site is safe.”

The dispute is largely based on what levels of radiation are considered safe. The IDPH contends the entire field has been cleaned within federal standards.

According to the citizen’s group, however, federal standards are rated for adults and not for children. The group claims children are much more susceptible to radiation.

“That is something that our radiation specialists don’t agree with,” Teal said. He said IDPH’s radiation department is one of the best in the country. “There is no greater risk at that soccer field than anywhere else in Ames.”

The citizen’s group also claims federal radiation standards do not take into account contaminated soil entering the bodies of athletes by inhalation or swallowing dust and dirt on the field. The group is concerned about soil entering an athlete’s body through cuts and abrasions as well.

The main problem with radiation is that any illnesses caused by it, mainly cancer, does not show up for years.

Since the site was contaminated, the citizen’s group points out, the Thorium has eroded the treatment facility’s storage grounds and the adjacent field, where the sports complex is to be built, as much as 20 times some levels in Ames.

The ORISE survey results also say measurements of radiation levels on the proposed complex field range between 1.4 to 2.4 times the readings of the rest of Ames for actinum-228, thalium-288, uranium-238 and radium-226, all radioactive byproducts of thorium.

Although the citizen’s group admits that the levels found in the field are quite low, members said they believe the radiation could still be a serious risk to children on the field.

The field was tested at 100 meter intervals, but only 60 of the 100 acres were tested.

The IDPH, however, stands behind its findings.

“The [ORISE] report confirmed something we already knew: The problem was discovered and it was contained,” Teal said. “There is no problem on those soccer fields as far as the IDPH is concerned.”

Brown sees things differently. “[The IDPH] told us the site was clean, then they cleaned it up. There are conflicting opinions … I don’t want to take a risk,” she said.

Although the ground breaking ceremony for the complex has already taken place, members of the citizen’s group said they are not content to stand by and watch.

The group is hand delivering packets of information about the problem to 45 neighborhood associations. The packets contain a reproducible flyer signed by area doctors as well as group leaders stating their opinions about the site’s safety as well as a petition to the City Council asked that construction be halted.

In addition, the group is sending packets to about 80 community organizations.