Update, 8:42 p.m. on 11/16/15: The Burlington City Council unanimously approved the spending request.
The price tag to remove the contaminated dirt stockpiled in Burlington’s Leddy Arena parking lot has been tallied up, and it’s not cheap: $339,000.
Burlington Parks and Recreation director Jesse Bridges will ask the city council tonight to authorize that amount be paid from the $800,000 tax increment financing allotment that voters approved last year for waterfront park improvements. The mini-mountain of soil at Leddy will likely be hauled away to a landfill in Vermont or New York and used as “daily cover” — the dirt that is applied over each day’s deposit of trash.
Bridges is working with Chittenden Solid Waste Disposal to get tipping fees waived or reduced, which could reduce the disposal price tag. But if environmental regulators say the dirt can’t be used as “daily cover” and it has to be disposed as solid waste, the removal costs could go up, Bridges warned in a memo to the city council.
Trash company ENPRO beat out Casella in a bid to remove the 2,500-cubic-yard pile, now covered in tarps.
The soil was excavated during the first phase of reconstruction of the nearby Burlington Bike Path on the waterfront. City officials hauled the soil to Leddy for temporary storage and testing after the odor and appearance of the dirt suggested contamination, possibly from one of the many former industrial uses on the waterfront. The dirt has been stockpiled in Leddy for nearly a year, with unhappy neighbors in the New North End pushing the city to get rid of it.
Soil tests confirmed the presence of PCBs at low amounts earlier this month. The now-banned chemicals were once widely used in electrical equipment, hydraulic fluids and various lubricants.
When is the pile going to disappear from Leddy? There’s no date yet, but the city should have one for the public by December 15 as promised, according to Bridges.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
What is the total cost of this debacle? Why wasn’t the soil safely disposed of on day one instead of incurring additional costs and contamination by piling it up in a neighborhood park in the middle of a dense residential area? Claims of safe encapsulation there are false, testing was irresponsibly delayed by City, and State agency charged with oversight of a contaminated field failed to protect us.
These issues have to be addressed. Obviously the State Dept. Of Environmental Conservation can not be relied upon to monitor future development in contaminated waterfront areas, for example the recent proposal to build in the Barge Canal area in the South End (attend presentation at Ward 5 NPA, Nov. 19). South End residents will have to be vigilant because the State, and City in role of developer, can not be trusted.
As for the handling of this Leddy Park debacle, Mayor Weinberget has to stop scapegoating Jesse Bridges and take responsibility for this beyrayel of public trust.
Overall, even though it might be costly, getting the soil removed is worth it. Since the park is such a fun place to be, the enjoyment of the land far outweighs the price tag on removing the soil. With new sod there as well, maybe the grass will be healthier, and make the walk though the park even more enjoyable than it already is. http://www.asbestossoilremoval.com.au/services