WTH? Riverside Park to be closed off again?

[jon]

environmental liability is pretty complicated. every previous owner of a contaminated parcel can be held liable for injury and cleanup costs. the result is that contaminated land is virtually useless to wealthy developers.

the way around it is to get a letter form the epa saying that the contamination is remediated. it's a matter of public record so if one was issued for riverside park, it should be around still. the letters are granted for a specific purpose. the level of remediation required for a parking deck may differ significantly than what is required for a dirt bike course.

often times, the treatment is pretty minor, strip the top few feet, put down a liner that exists mainly to warn off future diggers and cover with clean soil. other times, extensive pump and treat systems are required or even very deep excavations [[like the uniroyal cleanup)

[urbanoutdoors]

First off the city is hoping to have the site reopened by July. This is what I sent to the local community list serves about the meeting.

I wanted to give you my synopsis of the meeting the community had with the city yesterday. As someone who is very involved with the park I am saddened by its temporary closure but want to make sure that the site is re-mediated and reopened as soon as possible. The city did say that there will be future meetings and that they will be partnering with SDBA and SDEV on this effort. Please see my comments below. I want to give a little historical info on the site and give an update from the meeting. I talked to Sam Buchanan from J.W. Wescott and this is what he was able to tell me. From the early 1900s till about the 1950s the Riverside Park site was used as a Coal Gasification site by Michigan Consolidated Gas[[Michcon/DTE). Here is a link on the environmental effects of Coal Gasification from Chris Detjen.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_gasification#Environmental_effectsThe area then donated to the City of Detroit in the 1960s prior to Environmental Regulations. [[The Area that was mainly used for coalgasification) was the area where the boat launch currently is). Back in the mid 1980s Michcon skimmed 3 inches of Dirt off the Boat launch area and put a cap on the site of former use, [[however this must not have been sufficient.) Now to the Meeting...The city says that in November or December of last year just as the ruling came down on riverside park, the DIBC made accusations that the site is contaminated, and they discovered this contamination when they put up there illegal fence on the park. The city could not ignore those accusations and took measures to make sure the park was safe, however the citys environmental affairs department took 3 to 4 samples in different areas of all 3 segments of the park. From what the preliminary findings show the soil has been leached and that the party responsible will be held accountable and will pay for the remediation[[presumably DTE). The site needs a full environmental survey now which the city has already applied to the EPA for in the amount of 550k. They will be closing the park temporarily till the full risks are assessed. Most of the leached soil is still 8 feet down, and poses a small risk. I am saddened by the temporary closure of the park but do not feel that this is a ploy to sell of the park. I just hope that the clean up is done in an expeditious and thorough manner and that we all stay focused on improving the park and not let this issue divide city and community on the bridge issue. I for one do not feel the city would have put the $ into riverside boat launch if they thought this was an issue previously or they were planning on selling it off to Moroun.Again, We need to monitor the situation closely and push for the site to be cleaned up in an expeditious/comprehensive manner and the site to be reopened ASAP! This is one of our best public assets in the city and my hope is that the site will get the attention it deserves. The city has assured us that those who were recreating there will be able to be accommodated at other existing sites until then.That's my 2 cents on it. Joe Rashid

Friends of Riverside Park
BridgeWatch Detroit
Detroit Parks Coalition

[EastsideAl]

Thanks for the extensive update urbanoutdoors!

The city says that in November or December of last year just as the ruling came down on riverside park, the DIBC made accusations that the site is contaminated, and they discovered this contamination when they put up there illegal fence on the park.

I figured the gnarly old hand of Matty had to be involved in this.

I am saddened by the temporary closure of the park but do not feel that this is a ploy to sell of the park. I just hope that the clean up is done in an expeditious and thorough manner and that we all stay focused on improving the park and not let this issue divide city and community on the bridge issue. I for one do not feel the city would have put the $ into riverside boat launch if they thought this was an issue previously or they were planning on selling it off to Moroun.

I really hope you're right, but I definitely have grave doubts. I'm still thinking that DIBC is looking for some way to leverage this cleanup to get their way. I certainly don't think that the fact the city built the boat launch means that they won't pull the rug out from under us. They have wasted $$ before on new things that they then tore up, sold, or abandoned.