Columbus City Council last night approved a new contract that requires more money be spent to clean up Saunders Park on the Near East Side. Placing a cap over 9 acres of contaminated soil in the nearly 15 acre park will now cost 1.9 million dollars. The city last year approved a 1.6 million dollar deal, but the bidding firms failed to meet certain Ohio EPA qualifications. Columbus Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson Terri Leist says the cap of new soil and grass will be placed on top of dirt that was contaminated by a fertilizer plant that once operated on and near the park.
The park was closed in 2013 after arsenic, lead, mercury and other contaminants were found in the soil at levels exceeding safety standards. Columbus Public Health officials are asking people living on eight properties near the park to be tested for arsenic poisoning.
