NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Brookmeade Park could be back open to the public a year from now, but is the soil safe?
The city paid for an environmental study at the former homeless encampment. The results are better than some expected, however, despite the size of the report, the assessment wasn't exactly comprehensive.
On Tuesday, at a community meeting about the future of Brookmeade Park, a parks department leader mentioned a $20,000 environmental study. He also talked about what it took to clean out the park.
"It took us about three months and 44 30-cubic yard dumpsters were hauled out of Brookmeade," said Phil Luckett, the Assistant Director of Solid Maintenance at Metro Parks.
In order to fund a total rehab, a particular environmental study was also necessary.
"That lasted several months. We didn’t have to go past Phase 1 to Phase 2, which was very fortunate for us," Luckett said.
The 14-acre park was a homeless encampment for about a decade. Roughly 60 people were living there about a year ago and along the way, there were concerns about people using illegal drugs in the park.
The Environmental Site Assessment Report is more than 2,700 pages. In it, surveyors write about propane tanks, gas canisters and car batteries in the park. They describe all the trash. They didn't find any hazardous substances, but it's important to note this assessment did not include sampling or testing the actual soil or groundwater.
Soil contamination from human waste and needles has been a concern from people in the community.
The assessors from Athena Engineering and Envionrmental LLC concluded nothing at the park presents a threat to human health or the environment.
