Among tourist destinations such as Coney Island and a prominent art scene, visitors to Brooklyn can also find Dead Horse Bay. While New York is home to many picturesque beaches that are far from littered and dirty, Dead Horse Bay has become somewhat of a local hotspot while simultaneously serving as a warning as to what happens when the garbage procured by human beings has nowhere else to go but the shoreline. This beach, in particular, is very well-known by Brooklyn residents for its trash buildup, where it's not unusual to find anything from glass bottles in one piece to the remnants of clothing and even footwear. This beach serves as a literal dumping ground for many pieces of trash, and the reason for that lies in the landfill that's not far from the water.
The landfill in question was capped during the 1950s which prevented trash from flooding Dead Horse Bay and its accompanying beach but now, it seems the cap has failed. Trash is once again slowly spilling out of its eroded tunnels, revealing items that are not of this decade and span back further than anyone would have guessed. This is part of the reason for this beach's popularity, as many stroll its dumpster-like coastline in the hopes of finding some kind of age-old treasure among much of the trash that litters the land.
The problem is that all the trash in this landfill has been there for some extended period of time now, and as it spills onto the beach and into the reeds near the water's edge, everything - including decades of compact garbage - is being released into the soil and air. The stench along from the leaking landfill is enough to make most people turn right back around but for the curious few, even this isn't enough to halt them in their tracks - thus a sign was placed at the bay's entrance, which now warns beachcombers of potentially 'hazardous' and radioactive material.
Is The Beach Truly Radioactive?
There's truly no telling what will come spilling out of this landfill next. While the new sign on the beach reads, 'Danger Area Closed. Potential Hazardous Material,' it's unclear what, or why, the beach is being closed off to amateur explorers. The bay area is managed by the National Park Service, who realized back in 2019 that there were minute levels of radiation in the soil surrounding the bay where contents were being continuously dumped. The chemical contaminants, which was classified specifically as gamma radiation, is what originally prompted officials to close down the area due to health risks.
Further inspection promoted officials to do conduct more research on the areas which, according to Atlas Obscura, revealed that 31 levels came back with exceedingly high levels of radium. Part of the problem was due to deck markers, used for the illumination of dark areas, which had leaked radioactive chemicals into the surrounding soil. Since this discovery, visitors have been barred from 84 acres of Dead Horse Bay due to the fact that the soil and surrounding land has been deemed too dangerous. Digging, in particular, is especially off-limits, since the unearthing of one of these markers - or another radioactive component - could potentially expose it to the outside area and increase radiation levels even further.
The issue is that when radium hits the air, it turns into radon, which can be harmful to humans in large amounts. While it does have a short self-life, some experts believe that the area is not as harmful to humans as the imminent danger the signs seem to imply. While it's certainly not safe by any means, it's not something that will likely harm a person just passing through - however, it's advisable that people shouldn't. Experts claim that the bigger threat is actually chemical contamination, which is possible through the continuous dumping and unearthing of garbage that's highly toxic to the environment. Many chemicals will not break down in a damp and wet environment such as this and the threat this poses to visitors is fairly significant - if chemicals happen to splash onto a human's skin or personal effects, the results could be incredibly harmful.
As of now, there's no definitive plan as to how the beach should be treated or whether it should be cleaned up immediately. Despite the concerns from experts, regulars to Dead Horse Bay and locals are pushing for the chronicling of items found and a thorough vetting process before everything is trashed, due to their potential historical significance.