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KIDS PLAY AMONG THE POISONS: Lead in Westland park
Topic Started: Nov 7 2006, 12:25 PM (1,257 Views)
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The following was posted just now on the WesternWayneCafe a Yahoo group through freecycle.org.........



KIDS PLAY AMONG THE POISONS: Lead in Westland park kept quiet

November 7, 2006

Email this Print this BY TINA LAM

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Tests at Westland's Central City Park, which is owned by Wayne
County, have found high levels of lead around the Imagination
Playscape. The levels ranged from 7 parts per million to 750; 400 is
considered acceptable. (HUGH GRANNUM/Detroit Free Press)

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This summer, parents listened to the thwack of bats smacking
baseballs, cheered on kids playing soccer and watched them climb on
the giant wooden playscape at Westland's Central City Park.

But they were unaware of what officials from the City of Westland,
the state Department of Environmental Quality and Wayne County have
known for at least five summers: that parts of the park are
contaminated with high levels of lead, arsenic, cyanide, mercury and
other toxic substances.

A Free Press review of state, county and municipal records --
including analyses of soil samples and cleanup proposals -- reveals
that since 1999, four rounds of tests have been performed at the
county-owned park, finding particularly high levels of lead on the
two westernmost baseball diamonds, near the park's soccer field and
around the Imagination Playscape.

In 2001, for example, tests found that nearly one out of every three
surface samples taken on the west side of the park were high for
lead, and deeper soil samples showed alarming levels of lead,
arsenic and benzopyrene. City, county and state officials have been
quietly debating how to decontaminate the park, which was built atop
a county landfill, since 2002, without alerting the public.

Central City Park was closed during the weekend after the Free Press
began asking questions last week.

Behind the now barricaded entrances and signs announcing the
temporary closure, tests have found lead contamination of 2,100
parts per million, the highest on the site, near home plate on one
of the two baseball diamonds where teams from the Pony League play.
That's more than five times the 400 parts per million allowed by
state and federal standards in areas where children roam.

That high compares to a low of 19 parts per million just outside the
baseball diamond.

In most cases, lead poisoning in children is the result of repeated
and prolonged exposure to high levels of lead, but some experts
believe even more modest exposure can be dangerous.

"It's hard to believe," said Mark Rodriguez, who for 11 years has
been a board member with the Westland Youth Athletic Association,
which uses the fields. "They definitely should have told us. I'm
concerned for the kids that played there."

State, county blame each other

No one knows for sure whether kids have suffered any harm from being
exposed at the park, which was leased to the city by Wayne County 28
years ago. As such, the county is ultimately responsible for any
cleanup required.

"We acknowledge the public should have been made aware," said Sharon
Banks, spokeswoman for County Executive Robert Ficano. "Now we're
all paying attention. We'll do whatever it takes."

Banks said the county never closed the park because the DEQ never
ordered it to do so. But DEQ spokesman Bob McCann said the state had
no authority to close the park. He said it was the county's duty to
tell the public.

McCann said the state could have taken the county to court to clean
up the park, but that would have meant years of legal wrangling.

Meanwhile, Westland Mayor Sandra Cicerelli -- whose grandchildren
play at the park -- said she would have closed it, "if anyone had
told us we should." She said she was unaware of the contamination
until this year.

But records show that Cicerelli was sent a letter detailing cleanup
plans by the county in May 2002. When asked about the letter, she
said she found it in city files but could not recall it.

The letter makes it clear that other city officials were aware of
the cleanup.

"It's outrageous," said Michael Harbut, an environmental disease
specialist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. "If I
learned my kids had been playing on a field where there is lead, I'd
be furious."

Harbut said he would have his kids tested for lead if they had
played on the fields.

Although there are a number of toxic substances at the park, the DEQ
is most concerned about lead, which can damage children's brains and
organs as well as affect their mental development.

Records show that since 2002, Wayne County has submitted four
cleanup plans to the DEQ for approval. The state rejected all but
the latest one, which is still pending, determining the others were
inadequate.

The latest plan calls for digging up contamination on the soccer
fields and near the playscape and covering those areas with a fabric
barrier, then a foot of clay and topsoil.

Contaminated dirt would be dumped on the two already contaminated
baseball diamonds -- which would be capped and not used again.

The cleanup is expected to cost at least $500,000.

Repeated tests showed problems

In the 1930s, the site of the park was a sand-mining operation. In
the '40s, it became a road commission dump for Wayne County. For
three decades, refuse from street sweepings and catch-basin
cleanings was dumped there, as was broken asphalt and road debris,
records show.

DEQ documents say much of the road debris and asphalt was likely
laced with lead from leaded gasoline. When the park was built in the
late '70s, fill from the dump was spread across parts of the site.

In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was investigating
known areas with past contamination and asked the DEQ to test the
park because of its history as a landfill.

The testing, in just one area near a walking path west of the
baseball diamonds, showed higher than acceptable levels of cyanide,
mercury, lead and other metals.

It also showed high levels of chlordane, which is a pesticide, and
PCBs. Investigators noticed that sticking out of the soil were part
of a steel drum, concrete rubble, painted wood and asphalt.

The DEQ declared the site a brownfield, an area that needs a cleanup
or limited use. "Any handling of shallow soils by workers should be
done with appropriate personal protection and safety equipment,"
said the state's report in 2000.

The report did not touch on the baseball diamonds about 50 feet away
from the testing site.

In 2001, the county, as both the owner and the party responsible for
the contamination, hired a company to test further to see whether
there was contamination elsewhere, records showed. Of 49 surface
samples taken on the west side of the park, 29% were high for lead.
A third of deeper soil samples had high levels for lead, arsenic and
benzopyrene.

By the end of 2002, the county submitted a plan to decontaminate the
site, but the DEQ rejected it, saying only a small part of the park
had been tested. The plan also didn't address nearby storm drains,
where toxics in the soil could run off during storms, the state said.

For the next two years, the county and state argued over technical
issues, such as how much of the park should be tested and what
should be cleaned up.

Then, in April 2005, the DEQ told the county it was concerned about
what it characterized as a lack of progress. Some areas still hadn't
been tested. If the county didn't begin cleanup soon, the letter
threatened, the DEQ would do the testing and decontamination and
then pass the charges onto Wayne County.

But it still didn't happen. After another summer season, on Aug. 30
of last year, the county did more tests.

Those results again showed high levels of lead at the two
westernmost ball diamonds, and also near the soccer fields and in
several spots next to the playscape. The playscape area also showed
high levels of arsenic and in one sample, mercury.

This spring, the county submitted a cleanup plan the DEQ rejected,
saying some areas -- the soccer fields and playscape -- still
required more testing to see how far the contamination goes, in
order to make sure it's all cleaned up.

On June 4, Beth Vens, DEQ project manager, wrote in a report: "I
reiterated that the levels at the park are unacceptable and must be
fixed ASAP."

On June 29, the county submitted its latest cleanup plan. DEQ
approval is pending.

Last month, the city said it preferred a cleanup plan that uses
Astroturf on top of the contaminated areas so they can still be
used, but the county said that plan is too costly.

James Clift, policy director of the Michigan Environmental Council,
a coalition of environmental groups in Lansing, serves on a task
force looking at how to speed up responses to contaminated sites. He
blamed all three governments for failing to act quickly to get kids
out of the park.

"Everyone has fallen down on their responsibility here," he said.

Contact TINA LAM at 313
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JoJo
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Wow, and to think Sandy Cicirelli won by a land slide just a few years back. I wonder if she will be Westland's new judge??
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NFarquharson
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bee
Nov 7 2006, 12:25 PM
This summer, parents listened to the thwack of bats smacking baseballs, cheered on kids playing soccer and watched them climb on the giant wooden playscape at Westland's Central City Park.

But they were unaware of what officials from the City of Westland, the state Department of Environmental Quality and Wayne County have known for at least five summers: that parts of the park are contaminated with high levels of lead, arsenic, cyanide, mercury and other toxic substances.

If this is true, those that knew and did nothing ought to end up behind bars. My own kids have played at this park just last summer. I guess I better call their pediatrician.
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c3hull
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How close is that to the closed, contaminated Cooper and the mega 5-6 Cooper?
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NFarquharson
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c3hull
Nov 7 2006, 07:22 PM
How close is that to the closed, contaminated Cooper and the mega 5-6 Cooper?

MapQuest says 5.85 miles:

http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.ad...%7cUS&2qc=Parks
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rooseveltmom
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c3hull
Nov 7 2006, 07:22 PM
How close is that to the closed, contaminated Cooper and the mega 5-6 Cooper?

Have they tested the Cooper site? I mean the current Cooper site. The last I remember the havn't and are not obligated to do so. Anyone? CFLF any info on this?
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NFarquharson
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rooseveltmom
Nov 7 2006, 10:36 PM
c3hull
Nov 7 2006, 07:22 PM
How close is that to the closed, contaminated Cooper and the mega 5-6 Cooper?

Have they tested the Cooper site? I mean the current Cooper site. The last I remember the havn't and are not obligated to do so. Anyone? CFLF any info on this?

There are no plans to test the current Cooper School (former Whittier Junior High) site. The most recent info on the old Cooper site...south of Ann Arbor Trail...is here:

http://z14.invisionfree.com/Hull_Neighbors...opic=581&st=105

There have been no further developments announced.
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Anna Krome
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And we're sending our kids to a school across the street from a known toxic waste site in Westland--Cooper?

That's two known sites in Westland. Livonia could reveal something as disturbing.

AK
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NFarquharson
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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../611130359/1007

Metro Detroit
Ficano pushes for cleanup of lead at park
Westland plans meeting this week

November 13, 2006

BY TINA LAM

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano is demanding a meeting with Westland officials and the director of the state Department of Environmental Quality to try to speed the cleanup of a park contaminated with lead and other toxins.

Central City Park will remain closed to the public until the cleanup is complete, Vanessa Denha-Garmo, a spokeswoman for Ficano, said Friday.

Westland Mayor Sandra Cicirelli said Saturday she may reopen the large wooden playscape in the park, based on information from the DEQ, and the city plans to hold a public meeting about the park this week. No date had been set.

Although state, county and city officials knew about the contamination for at least four years, the park wasn't closed until last weekend after the Free Press began asking questions after reviewing documents detailing the findings of lead and other dangerous substances left there from the days when it was a road commission dump.

The county, which owns the park, has submitted four cleanup plans since 2002, three of them rejected by the DEQ as inadequate. A fourth involves digging up lead-laced dirt, dumping it on two baseball diamonds and then capping them with clay, fabric, soil and grass. They would not be used for recreation again.

Approval for that plan is still pending.

About 40 people who said they have frequented the park -- playing on its baseball diamonds or watching their kids climb on its fanciful playscape -- have contacted the Free Press in response to a story revealing the contamination at the park.

"We've taken our grandson to play in that park many times," said Konnie Kay Boulet, who lives near the park. "How much exposure is too much or too little? There should be some kind of meeting called to answer everyone's questions. We haven't heard anything about testing, which they should offer for free."

Ryan Osenroth, whose children have played at the park, said he thought Westland should pay for blood tests for anyone who has visited it.

"This makes me so very angry that we were never informed," he said. "This scares me to death."

Another parent, Jennifer Boze, said she took her two children to the park almost daily in the spring, summer and fall.

"I am appalled and furious that I had to read about this in the paper and our city did not have the decency to inform parents of this years ago," she said. "They have put my children's health at risk."

In 1999, tests showed that parts of the county-owned park, which was built on an old county road commission landfill in the late 1970s, were contaminated with high levels of lead, arsenic, PCBs, cyanide and other toxins. More tests followed.

Although the DEQ insisted that the park be cleaned up and the county has submitted four cleanup plans to the state, no one had informed the public.

Even the Westland City Council has been unaware, said council member Cheryl Graunstadt, who has been on the council since January 2002.

Cicirelli ordered the park closed last Saturday after discussing the contamination with the Free Press. She said she had learned of the contamination earlier this year, even though the county sent her a letter in May 2002 about it.

It's not known whether any children were harmed. Some experts say it takes prolonged exposure to raise a child's blood lead to dangerous levels, though others believe it takes only small amounts of lead to hurt young children.

Bob McCann, spokesman for DEQ Director Steve Chester, said he did not know if any meeting has been scheduled among representatives from the city, county and state.

"If they want to meet, we certainly would do that," he said. "We're willing to meet with" Ficano "and with everybody involved to bring this process to a close and get the cleanup going as fast as possible."

Contact TINA LAM at 313-222-6421 or tlam@freepress.com.
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my_kids_mom
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Anna Krome
Nov 8 2006, 05:08 PM
And we're sending our kids to a school across the street from a known toxic waste site in Westland--Cooper?

That's two known sites in Westland. Livonia could reveal something as disturbing.

AK

When, in heaven's sake, are city and school leaders going to start putting our kids first!
Just another story of putting our kids last on the list. When will it stop!
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2tots
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JoJo
Nov 7 2006, 12:47 PM
Wow, and to think Sandy Cicirelli won by a land slide just a few years back. I wonder if she will be Westland's new judge??

Yes, she was elected to be the new judge of the 18th District Court. Judge Gail McKnight is retiring at the end of the year.
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NFarquharson
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From the Detroit Free Press 11/16/06:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../611160420/1004

Wayne County
Poisons in park first test for next mayor
Westland council president will take the job in January

November 16, 2006

BY KORIE WILKINS

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Westland City Council President William Wild will take over for Mayor Sandra Cicirelli, who was elected judge for the 18th District Court on Nov. 7.
When William Wild becomes mayor of Westland in January, he'll already have his work cut out for him.

The city is facing a firestorm of controversy after it was revealed earlier this month that Central City Park was contaminated by lead and other toxic substances -- and officials knew about the problem for years but did not close the park until earlier this month.

"It's certainly going to be my biggest challenge," said Wild, 38, a lifelong resident.

Tonight, he will lead a public meeting on the park issue, where current Mayor Sandra Cicirelli will update residents.

Wild said he thinks the park, on Ford Road near Newburgh Road, will be closed throughout 2007 and could reopen in the spring of 2008.

"I want to continue to work on remediation and restoration efforts in the park," he said Wednesday. "And my first priority is to clean the park and get it reopened."

Wild is in the middle of his second term on the City Council and is its president. He will take the helm as mayor Jan. 2 per the city charter, which allows the council president to take the top job until the next regular election if the mayor steps down. On Nov. 7, Cicirelli won the 18th District Court judge seat, besting challenger Jennifer Thor.

Wild, who is married with two children, said he always hoped to become mayor. He will leave his family business, an automotive recycling company in Wayne, to serve Westland's more than 80,000 residents. The new gig will pay $92,000.

Wild said he plans to try to keep the job and run for mayor in next year's election.

Cicirelli, who is not married and has two children and two grandchildren, replaces the retiring Judge Gail McKnight, 18th District Chief Judge C. Charles Bokos said Tuesday. Cicirelli will make $138,000.

"I think I'm the first person in the city to serve in all three branches of government," Cicirelli, who also served on the City Council for 12 years, said Tuesday. She was an attorney in her family's firm for 20 years.

In the coming weeks, officials will appoint someone to Wild's seat on the council. That person also could opt to run for the seat in a year.

"I'm looking at this as a long-term plan," Wild said of the mayor's job. "Our city has been doing very well, and I want to continue that."

Contact KORIE WILKINS at 248-351-5186 or kwilkins@freepress.com.
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NFarquharson
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http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...7/NEWS/61117004

Westland residents blast city, county about lead in park

By Darrell Clem
Staff Writer

Angry residents blasted Westland and Wayne County officials Thursday night for failing to warn them that the park where their children played has elevated levels of lead.

Resident Jeanne Koopman, whose great-nephew played in Central City Park, said the park should have been closed when the county found problems in 1999.

“The fact that you did a cover-up is unconscionable,” Koopman charged during a sometimes-heated public meeting at Westland City Hall.
Velda Garcia recalled how her two children would slide into home plate when they played baseball in Westland’s most popular park. Officials have confirmed that the ball diamonds are the most contaminated area.
Garcia criticized Mayor Sandra Cicirelli – elected Nov. 7 as a Westland district judge – for failing to inform the public that the park had high levels of lead.
“Had I known that,” Garcia told Cicirelli, “I would never have let them play there, nor would I have voted for you last Tuesday.”
Following a new round of tests conducted earlier this month, officials from the city, county and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality plan to engage in talks in December aimed at developing a remediation plan for the park.
Officials believe that most park users have likely not been at great risk from lead poisoning. Soil tests have been conducted using standards that would apply to a residential area, not a park.
Alan Helmkamp, assistant Wayne County executive, said the park was used as a dump site from the 1930s through the 1970s by the county road commission. He sat in Thursday’s meeting for Executive Robert Ficano, on a trade mission to China.
Cicirelli held out hope that a remediation plan could lead to a gradual reopening of the park, although it’s possible some areas could be fenced off indefinitely.
Councilwoman Cheryl Graunstadt and several residents said the city should be doing a better job of warning residents, rather than posting signs that simply say the park is temporarily closed except for a walking path.
Residents also asked that the county conduct additional tests of Friendship Lake, which hasn’t been tested. Moreover, they implored the county to bring a mobile lead-testing site to Westland – issues that Helmkamp promised to discuss with Ficano.
Some residents blamed Cicirelli while others blamed the county for failing to disclose contamination in the park.
Bud Somerville, who has been an umpire at little league games in the park, said hundreds of children have played day after day in the park.
“We eat enough dirt out there to consider it a full-course meal,” he said Thursday.
Somerville blamed the county for not acting to notify the public.
Cicirelli told residents she never would intentionally put their children in harm’s way.
“No one has ever said to us that this is a harmful, toxic site,” she said.

dclem@hometownlife.com | (734) 953-2110
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NFarquharson
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From the Westland Observer:

http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/.../611190416/1041

Parents blast officials for silence on lead
Soil tests as early as 1999 indicated problems
BY DARRELL CLEM
STAFF WRITER

The failure of Westland and Wayne County officials to warn parents that their children played in a contaminated park has torpedoed any trust that some residents had in their government leaders.

Angry parents blasted city and county officials Thursday night for remaining silent for years about elevated levels of lead in Central City Park, particularly on the western baseball diamonds.

During a blistering public meeting at Westland City Hall, parent Velda Garcia recalled how her two children would slide into home plate, which, officials knew, was one place that needed cleaning up.

In a 2002 letter to officials including Mayor Sandra Cicirelli, City Attorney Angelo Plakas and Westland Planning Director Bruce Thompson, the county's director of special projects, Hugh Macdonald, wrote, "The environmental cleanup issue is relatively sensitive since the cleanup activities would be concentrated near the home plate area of the Little League baseball fields."

Cicirelli insisted Thursday that officials didn't believe the lead contamination posed a serious health threat to children, but parents said they should have been warned and allowed to make their own decisions.

"Had I known that, I would never have let them play there," Garcia said of her two children, adding that she regrets voting for Cicirelli for district judge in the Nov. 7 election.

Soil tests as early as 1999 indicated problems in Central City Park, county officials confirmed, but the first public action came two weeks ago when Cicirelli abruptly closed the park.

"It should have been closed in 1999," resident Jeanne Koopman said Thursday, saying her great-nephew played in the park. "The fact that you did a cover-up is unconscionable."

Koopman and others packed a Westland City Council meeting room and spilled out into the hallway during a public session that residents called long overdue. Some people blamed Cicirelli for failing to disclose the contamination problem, while others pointed to county officials.

Cicirelli has said that city officials didn't get called to the table for talks about the problem until earlier this year.

James Harless, a senior soils and material consultant representing Wayne County, said the park was analyzed using criteria usually reserved for a residential area.

As such, lead levels in numerous spots exceeded acceptable standards of 400 parts per million.

"It assumes that the entire area is used like the back yard of a house," Harless said, adding later, "If you contact the soil, you may have an issue."

Officials believe that most park users have likely not been at great risk from lead poisoning, but some parents aren't convinced.

Bud Somerville, who coached Little League games and served as umpire, said hundreds of children played and practiced -- day after day, for long hours -- in the park.

"We eat enough dirt out there to consider it a full-course meal," he said Thursday.

Somerville blamed the county for failing to notify residents.

For now, the park remains closed indefinitely except for a paved walking path, but none of the areas have been fenced off. Signs posted to notify the public of the closing don't explain the reason why.

During the meeting, parent Shawna Jaynes drew applause when she addressed officials and charged, "It was all kept a secret from all of us."

Some residents also worried that their pets could have been exposed to elevated levels of lead. People from as far away as South Lyon attended the meeting, blasting city and county officials for keeping quiet.

"It's not a hazardous waste site," Cicirelli insisted. When asked why she didn't alert the public, she responded, "We have to work with the best information that we have at the time."

She has insisted that officials didn't believe the problem was serious enough to warrant closing the park. She said she closed it this month in hopes of getting a remediation plan started after the summer season had ended.

"No one has ever said to us that this is a harmful, toxic site," Cicirelli said.

Still, parents said they should have been allowed to make their own decisions after hearing the facts -- years ago.

"My own kid used to toss dirt up in the air as a catcher, and he was breathing it," parent Todd Kangas said.

Parent Sean Stewart said his two sons, now 9 and 12, practiced ball hours at a time on the field.

"I could care less if this park opens up again," he said. "Clean it up."

dclem@hometownlife.com | (734) 953-2110
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