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Due to community pressure, the federal government announced last week that it will test the Brentwood Barrington Dog Park and surrounding area for radioactive medical waste.

From 1952 to 1968, UCLA and Veterans Administration researchers buried waste in the park, including gloves, lab glass and animal carcasses that were exposed to radiation as part of experiments on the biological effects of radiation on plants, animals and humans.

The VA announced it hired the Millennium Consulting Associates to conduct the study. Michael Noel, president of the company, told the Los Angeles Times that it is most important to find out exactly what and how much material was buried, and when. He added that he believes this information will be hard to find because very few records remain before 1970 since extensive documentation was not required.

The VA could not be reached for comment Tuesday or Wednesday.

Michael Collins, a reporter for Los Angeles CityBeat who has spent several years investigating the site, said he has found evidence that the waste poses a great risk to the community.

“Barrington Dog Park and nearby MacArthur field are used by many people every day,” He said. “Hundreds of kids use MacArthur field to play soccer. They kick balls into the center of the dump and chase it. That’s a clear and immediate danger to public health.”

During his investigation, Collins dug up glass from the area, and by using a nuclear radiation monitor found that it was four times more radioactive than normal glass, he said. Collins also said he is glad the VA has commissioned a study and believes the investigation will be reliable.

“We’re happy that they’re doing this study,” Collins said. “Of course we will look closely at what they discover and what methods they use. But my initial feeling is that it’s a good idea.”

The VA is spending a large amount of money on the investigation, including acquiring his findings, Collins said.

But some have questioned the validity of the study because it was commissioned by the VA.

“I have no confidence in it,” said Dan Hirsch, president of The Committee to Bridge the Gap, a non-profit organization that focuses on nuclear policy issues.

Hirsch said he believes an independent study should be done instead to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.

Collins brought up the issue of radiation in Brentwood in May when he wrote an article about the radioactive waste.

UCLA students taking a class Hirsch was teaching at UCLA in 1979 first discovered that researchers had dumped radioactive waste in Brentwood.

At the time, the students believed federal agencies had failed to appropriately address significant environmental issues, so they decided to find out information on their own. They contacted nuclear facilities around Los Angeles, and the VA gave the students records of materials dumped, Hirsch said.

The Committee to Bridge the Gap concluded its own investigation in 1981 and found toxic chemicals in the area. In the early 1980s the VA negotiated with the city of Los Angeles to convert the property into a park, but did not disclose information about the radioactive waste to the city, Hirsch said.

The committee then raised the issue, but after the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the property posed no health risks, the park was built, according to the Los Angeles Times. After hearing about this, Collins looked at Atomic Energy Commission reports detailing experiments that took place at UCLA and the VA from 1948 to 1964. Along with the article, Collins started a Web site that details the results of his investigation.

“I started the Web site so readers and the government could see we had our facts straight,” he said.

Collins said he has seen a change in the VA’s attitude towards an investigation since he first addressed the issue.

“I initially ran into a lot of resistance from the Veterans Administration,” Collins said. “But after government pressure from local officials, such as City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and the results of my investigation, the VA had a change of heart.”

Collins said he has high hopes for the study.

“The VA’s investigation will take a new look at the facts and hopefully test it thoroughly,” Collins said.