In an about-face, Baltimore City agreed Wednesday to remove a mound of toxic dirt from Wyman Park.
The move came in response to residents? concerns stemming from stories in The Examiner revealing that contractors had told the city the dirt contained twice the level of diesel fuel allowed by state law.
Still, for more than six months, the city had left the dirt pile in the park, in Remington near an elementary-middle school and The Johns Hopkins University?s Homewood campus, according to documents and interviews.
On Wednesday, top city officials continued to maintain the dirt would not endanger people but said residents? complaints prompted the removal.
“The reason is to allay any concerns that residents may have, even though there is no threat to anyone posed by theremoval, storage and reuse of this pile,” said Kurt Kocher, a spokesman for the city Department of Public Works.
Kocher insisted the pile complied with state regulations.
He added that David Scott, public works director, “after consultations, decided that we would remove that material,” and it would likely go to a city landfill.
The dirt to be removed would be roughly four truckloads, DPW said.
Remington residents expressed relief when they learned the dirt would be removed from the site starting Friday.
“It?s a good thing, especially because of the children and the school,” resident Stacey Meadows said.
Resident Craig Bettenhausen, who is studying for a doctorate in chemistry at Hopkins, called the city officials? handling of the situation disturbing.
“They didn?t ask us if they could put the soil there, and then it turns out to be toxic,” he said. “It?s kind of sleazy.”
Herbert Meade, administrator of the state Department of the Environment?s Oil Control Program, had told The Examiner the dirt should not have been left in the park and that it “should not come in contact with human beings.”
In November 2007, city contractor Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. alerted city officials of possible contaminated dirt excavated from a construction site across the street for a water pumping station.
In the Nov. 29, 2007, memo to DPW, Whiting-Turner warned of possible contamination of the dirt left in the park.
“While performing excavation … several subcontractors on the site noticed a strong odor,” the memo reads. “[We] immediately notified a testing agency to take tests from the area.”
