The Ultra Music Festival's ability to host an event at Bayfront Park in Miami may be at risk and for once it's not the fault of the event itself or its attendees. Although Ultra was under a watchful eye after a drug-related death during the 2014 event, now it seems that an entirely different kind of toxin might be in play: The area has been labelled a "poison park" after the discovery of arsenic in the soil (from Dancing Astronaut).
A number of public spaces around the Miami area have been dubbed "poison parks" due to arsenic, barium, lead and other hazardous substances being found in the soil. No one has an explanation for how it got there, but the best bet is that the materials are tied to railways and shipyards that used to use the areas circa 1925.
So how does this effect Ultra? The huge electronic music festival might have to find a new piece of real estate for the 2016 chapter. The event first took place at the park from 2001-'05 and then came back during 2012 and has remained there since. An estimate from SCS Engineers suggests that the cleanup necessary at Bayfront Park alone could stretch over $1 million. That's money that the Bayfront Park Management Trust, which is in charge of business in the Bayfront area, claims it doesn't have.
Some members of the board at the trust suggested to The Miami Herald that the danger posed by the arsenic is minimal.
"You would have to literally ingest the dirt to get sick," said Nathan Kurland, a trust member. We're sure more bizarre things have happened at the festival so we're not writing that statement off yet.
Where else might Ultra move within Miami? Museum Park, the former home of Ultra during the gap (when it was called Bicentennial Park), is currently undergoing renovations, not to mention it's added an art museum and science museum since it last hosted Ultra.
