Miami Twp. park reopens after EPA removes tons of contaminated soil

A Miami Twp. park closed for more than a year has reopened after tons of lead-contaminated soil was removed in a U.S. EPA Superfund project.

Layer Park on Cornell Drive reopened earlier this month, said Miami Twp. Public Works Director Dan Mayberry. The EPA estimated earlier this year the cleanup would cost $3 million and involve the removal of more than 6,700 tons of soil.

RELATED: EPA’s Superfund cleanup of park ‘substantial’

The 7.5-acre park has not reopened since December 2015, when it closed for the season, according to the township. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in early 2016 detected high concentrations of lead at the former shooting range.

The site was cordoned off in April of last year. An Ohio EPA official then said high lead levels in soil at the park were initially discovered three years earlier, but overlooked in what Michael Proffitt, the chief of the Ohio EPA’s division of environmental response and revitalization, called “a big mistake.”

RELATED: EPA says ‘big mistake’ made in overlooking lead issues

The state asked the federal agency to assist. Soil in the yards of more than two dozen homes surrounding the park were then tested, with only one property showing above acceptable readings, records show.

-MORE LAYER PARK COVERAGE:

RELATED: EPA to test more land for lead contamination

RELATED: Area homeowners agree to have EPA test soil

RELATED: U.S. EPA estimates cost to clean up park

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