Over the past two weeks the Town has made further progress in ensuring the safety of our parks and fields.
1. Gould Manor Park Remediation Underway, Burroughs Field Next
As everyone who has recently driven past Gould Manor Park along Holland Hill Road will know, the remediation work along the sidewalk area has begun. This work involves the safe removal and disposal of soil and fill along both sides of the sidewalk along Holland Hill Road, replacing it with pre-tested clean soil and then reseeding the area. This work should be completed by next week. The Park is open during this work, although those areas where work is underway will be restricted. The work is being carried out by RED Technologies (https://www.redtechllc.com/remediation-consulting ), under the supervision of Tighe & Bond, the Licensed Environmental Professional retained by the Town. The remediation plan can be found here.
We are also finalizing remediation plans at Burroughs field, and will be following the same procedures as at Gould Manor Park.
2. Next Round of Site Testing is Beginning
As previously reported, a supplemental list of 21 sites receiving fill have been identified which require additional assessment to determine if testing is necessary. Testing of selected sites will begin this week, and once we receive those test results we will post them to the Fill Use Issues webpage and report to you on whether any remediation work is necessary.
You can keep track of the status of all sites we have tested on our Environmental Testing Scorecard.
3. State Department of Public Health Issues Recreational Site Standards for Fairfield
Last week the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) provided the Town with guidance and recommendations based upon a recreational standard for exposures to soils. These standards are specific to the Town of Fairfield.
As you might recall, the State has had two standards: one for residential sites; the other for commercial/industrial sites. These standards guide towns on determining whether any remediation action is necessary when contaminants are found at a given site. Residential standards are more restrictive than commercial/industrial standards. However, the State did not previously have standards for the type of recreational sites we have been testing in Fairfield: mostly school fields and park areas.
The Town is now reviewing these standards which have also been provided to the Fairfield Public Schools.
As always, we encourage you to visit our Fill Use Issues webpage, and reach out to the Health Department with any questions: fillusequestions@fairfieldct.org .