The city of Detroit knew about serious levels of contamination at a waterfront park on the east side but failed to alert residents or fence off the entire area until last month, Metro Times has learned.
Soil testing at A.B. Ford Park in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood in 2022 and 2023 revealed excessive levels of arsenic, mercury, lead, barium, cadmium, copper, zinc, volatile organic compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, according to an environment assessment report made public on Tuesday, a month after the city received it.
Contacting the soil is dangerous, according to the report.
“This complete pathway is an unacceptable exposure and, therefore, response activities are required,” the report from Atlas Technical Consultants states.
The city closed the park late last month to begin topping the contaminated ground with two feet of soil. The city also drew the ire of some residents with plans to remove more than 250 trees, some of which are more than 100 years old and are used by bald eagles.
The testing was done ahead of planned park renovations that include walkways, a playground, basketball court, fitness and picnic areas, tennis and pickleball courts, a fishing node, beach, and waterfront plaza.
Now some residents are threatening to file a lawsuit against the city for allegedly exposing them to dangerous contaminants.
Terry Swafford, who has taken his two children to the park almost every day before it closed last month, is calling on the city to offer free testing for residents who may have been exposed to contaminants.
“We have all been exposed to toxins from the soil,” Swafford tells Metro Times. “It is unacceptable.”
City officials are defending their handling of the contamination, saying the west side of the park was closed after toxins were found.
“We followed the science every step of the way to make sure the public was protected at AB Ford Park,” Crystal Gilbert-Rogers, general manager for environmental affairs, told Metro Times in a statement. “The entire western half of the site has been fenced off to the public since February 2022 to allow for soil testing and demolition at the former Lenox center, as well as construction of the new community center.”
Although the testing was confined to the western portion of the park, where the first renovations took place, environmental consultants emphasized in their report that the east side was likely just as contaminated.
“It should be noted, based on soil-fill material grid sampling completed to date, the level, nature, and distribution of soil/fill material contamination within the eastern portion of the park are expected to be similar, if not identical, to the western portion of the park fully investigated in mid-2023,” consultants wrote in the Feb. 5 report.
The eastern side of the park, which includes a soccer field, walking paths, and a fishing pier, stayed open for more than two more weeks after the report was received – and nearly two years after the first contamination was discovered on the western side of the park.
Despite the contamination, an NFL Draft party was held next to the new recreation center in the park on Saturday, and food trucks, a bounce house, and games for children were set up in the parking lot. Although a chain-link fence was erected to keep people off the grass, clumps of dirt had breached the fence.
Residents were informed in mid-February that contaminants were found, but the city declined to disclose any details until earlier this week.
The level of contamination is serious enough to prompt the consultants to urge the city to notify workers of the contaminants and require them to wear gloves and clean any soil or dust from their boots and hands after leaving the park.
“Construction workers may be exposed to hazardous substances found in soil and groundwater,” the consultants wrote.
It’s unclear if workers were notified of the contamination when they demolished a building and constructed a solar-paneled recreation center last year.
Residents are also worried about a large mound of dirt at the park’s entrance, which is across the street from homes, that was dumped there during previous renovations. Disrupted soil carries a significant risk of exposure.
The city defended the mound of dirt, saying it’s “entirely fenced off.”
But Swafford counters that a chain-link fence cannot protect residents from airborne contamination. He’s not persuaded by the city’s insistence that residents were protected.
“It’s complete bullshit,” Swafford says of the city’s explanation. “It’s insane. It’s truly Owellian. It’s divorced from reality altogether.”
It’s unclear exactly what caused the contamination. The park used to be a Nike missile site in the 1950s. Those sites are notorious for leaving behind a toxic cocktail of contaminants, though it is not believed that any missiles were ever stored at the A.B. Ford Park site, which housed radar tracking towers and barracks for military personnel.
The base of two radar towers are still jutting out of the ground at the park.
City officials believe at least some of the contamination is from soil that was dumped at the park decades ago.
A Detroit City Council committee meets at 1 p.m. Thursday to consider approving the $9.6 million renovation plans. Some residents plan to speak out against the plans.
The committee delayed action on the measure last week, saying it needed more time to hear from residents and gather more information.
