Source: http://www.dispatch.com, October 21, 2014
By: Lucas Sullivan
Columbus will spend about $1.6 million to clean up a Near East Side park where contaminants from an old fertilizer plant were found in the soil.
Last night, the Columbus City Council unanimously approved spending $309,000 for engineers to design a drain system for the new soil that will be dumped on Saunders Park within the next year.
In addition, it’s expected to cost about $1.2 million to place a 2 1/2-foot dirt cap on top of the contaminated dirt. The park is expected to reopen in 2016.
“The contract modification is to detail the engineering of the (dirt) cap, the drainage of it and everything that goes into that,” said Alan McKnight, the city’s director of recreation and parks.
“Once they complete the engineering of that, we can get started on getting this done.”
The city originally hired the local engineering firm Burgess & Niple to develop the plans for about $142,000. The additional funds approved last night were expected once the company determined what the next step of the plan was, McKnight said.
Mayor Michael B. Coleman ordered 9 acres of the 14.5-acre park, at 1380 Atcheson St., closed last year after contaminants were found in the soil.
The Dispatch reported at the time that parks officials allowed a youth-soccer league to use the park, despite a 2012 report that found troubling levels of arsenic and benzo(a)pyrene in the soil.
Arsenic is a poison and benzo(a)pyrene can cause cancer.
Dana Moessner, a Near East Side resident who often discusses issues in his neighborhood with city council, said last night that the city took too long to respond to the park’s issues and concerns, which he said he raised beginning in 2011.
“Environmental racism is a great concern at this predominantly lower-income, black neighborhood that surrounds the (area) around Saunders Park,” Moessner said.
He encouraged the council members to get oversight from the federal government.
“We certainly understand the concerns of the community,” Councilman Hearcel F. Craig said. “And they’re appropriate concerns.”
McKnight said the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has jurisdiction for the site cleanup and must approve the plans to remediate the park grounds.
City council also approved $1.6 million last night for replacing and repairing brick on 27 city streets.
The contract is with G&G Cement Contractors LLC of Columbus. It comes after the city settled a lawsuit two weeks ago, agreeing to pay a woman $175,000 after she was hit in the head by a brick kicked up off the street from a passing bus.
A spokesman with the city’s Public Service Department said the repairs are not in response to the lawsuit. The city performed similar maintenance in 2008, 2012 and 2013, officials said.
In other council business, Shannon G. Hardin was sworn in as a council member and was put in charge of the council’s Public Service committee, which oversees the city’s waste collection, street repair and cleanup, as well as building and zoning departments.
Hardin, 27, replaces A. Troy Miller, who left unexpectedly in September. Councilwoman Michelle M. Mills was named president pro-tempore, which makes her the second-ranked member behind council President Andrew J. Ginther.