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Politics & Government

City Doesn't Plan to Test Other Parks for Contamination

McGrath Park contamination to be remediated.

Youth soccer fields at will remain closed until the City can clean up contamination found at the site, Mayor Kimberley Driscoll said Friday, after the last Monday.

Salem's long has left behind numerous sites where contamination is found, including the Salem Transfer Station, which the City has been attempting to develop a plan to clean up.  

State-required testing showed elevated levels of cadmium and lead in fill underneath the McGrath Park soccer fields, prompting the City's decision to close the fields last Monday.

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The testing was done due to the discovery of fill during digging at the fields for laying pipes.

Driscoll said on Friday that a second round of testing will be conducted at the fields at McGrath Park.

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"We'll be sitting down with the engineering firm and putting together a plan for assessment and remediation," Driscoll said.

Driscoll said the City won't be testing other parks for contamination.

"We test as necessary — not every field was on landfill," Driscoll said. "When we find it, we will address it. We don't have the resources to (test) all of the 32 parks and playgrounds."

, which is undergoing a site clean-up and remediation, will be open in the late spring or early summer.

The Parks & Recreation Department has coordinated fields for the remainder of the Youth Soccer season, including use of Alumni Field at and the Geswell Field at .

"We can't thank (the university) enough," Driscoll added.

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