Don't eat the dirt at Fort Reno Park, D.C., kids
You know all of the attention we've been giving burials lately? Once again, their effects could be rearing their ugly heads. The 33-acre Fort Reno Park in Northwest D.C. was shut down due to high arsenic levels in the soil. (But, uh, they're still asking people to donate to their concert series. Go figure).
Scientists aren't yet sure what caused the arsenic levels to be more than 25 times higher than regulations allow, but one environmental scientist (who smartly chose to remain anonymous), said the cause could be Reno's previous existence as a burial ground. In the Civil War era, 72 soldiers were buried, he said, using embalming fluid and compounds that contained arsenic.
Okay, okay - so he also said that pesticides and fertilizer could have contributed, too - but those possibilities aren't nearly as interesting as dead bodies, right?
So, boys and girls, what did we learn today? That's right: eating arsenic-rich soil is bad news. Oh, and so is using toxic chemicals on plants. Tomorrow's lesson: cars make the sky dirty.
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