Byram Park Playground, Pool Area Closed After Soil Tests Show Presence of Arsenic

The playground area of Byram Park has been closed to visitors after soil tests conducted in preparation for the proposed pool project turned up high levels of arsenic, town officials announced Thursday.

During an update on the proposed project through the auspices of a partnership between the Town of Greenwich and the Junior League of Greenwich, town Superintendent of Buildings, Maintenance and Construction Alan Monelli unveiled the findings of soil tests to the Greenwich Board of Selectmen.

While officials, including Department of Public Works Commissioner Amy Siebert, said the arsenic doesn’t impose an immediate health risk because it’s not linked to any water source in the 30-acre park on Ritch Avenue, the town is obligated to close access to the affected areas, and remediate the area.

Test borings indicate there is arsenic in a 15-inch layer of topsoil that covers the playground and garden area adjacent to the swimming pool that is to be replaced. The swimming pool area also contains arsenic and is off-limits. On Thursday afternoon, the area was cordoned off by a green, plastic snow fence.

The soil test borings are required with any town improvement project.

Siebert, Monelli and Parks and Recreation Director Joe Siciliano said the town must now decide whether to conduct a cleanup of the site before any construction or keep the area closed. Pool construction is anticipated until 2016 which would mean that access would be restricted to the only waterfront park in the western end of town and the town’s only pool would remain closed during future summer seasons. A request to fund remediation will have to be presented to the Board of Estimate and Taxation, they said.

Selectman Drew Marzullo said that while he understood the need to remediate the area — which would mean removing the 15-inch layer of top soil and replacing it with clean soil — would provide more ammunition to opponents of the project. “The cost of the cleanup would be separate from the overall cost of the project. But I can see opponents of the pool trying to lump it into the project cost,” Marzullo said.

According to Siebert and Monelli, tests showed there isn’t any arsenic in the remainder of the park, including the beach. And tests indicated there aren’t any PCBs on the site, Monelli said. The depth of the testing reached five feet until the granite bedrock was reached, Monelli said. The arsenic was found only in the top 15 inches of soil.

Monelli said that the arsenic-laden soil was used back in the 1920s when a portion of the property that had been used as a quarry was filled in to level the fields on the property. The town created the park in 1974 after it acquired the five-acre property that was the former Rosenwald estate that included the residential pool that the town has used as a community facility.

It needs to be replaced because it has irreparable leaks, is not ADA-compliant and with a maximum capacity of 40 people, it is too small to accommodate community needs. On a typical summer day, there are lines of residents waiting to use the pool that has a 20-minute time limit before swimmers are rotated out.

Replacement of the pool has been in the discussion phase for years and finally moved forward when the Junior League offered to help donate some funds for designs and help raise the money needed for the project that will include a main pool with lap lanes, a kiddie pool and a splash pad, with a pool pavilion with changing areas, restrooms, showers, a life guard station and concession stand.

Photo 1: the area circled in red is where the arsenic was found at Byram Park.

Photo 2: a detailed look at the affected area in Byram Park.

Photo 3: the cordoned off area at Byram Park on Dec. 4, 2014.

Photo 4: a rendering of what the new Byram Park Pool will look like.

Photo credits: Barbara Heins.

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