A private company hired by the city of Columbus has started working to cleanup properties near Saunders park that are contaminated with lead, arsenic, mercury and other toxins.
Jim Letizia reports.
The city is also putting a cap on the soil at the near east side park. There is no firm timetable for completing both projects, but officials hope to finish this spring or summer. The city says the toxins come from the nearby site of a fertilizer plant that Bordon Chemical Incorporated closed in 1970. The firm conducting the cleanup, Hexion Incorporated, was formed after Borden acquired one company and merged with two others. The city is working to get Hexion to fund the 1.9 million dollar remediation work. That cost is 300 thousand dollars more than the city initially projected. When the contract was approved by City Council in February of last year, Columbus Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson Terri Leist said firms that bid on the contract failed to meet certain Ohio EPA qualifications. A group of people living near the park will ask local and state officials to test the soil of more homes in the area. Columbus Public Health says its survey of 25 area residents found no pattern of symptoms from exposure. The park was closed in 2013.
