Lead Found in Miami's Bayfront Park

MIAMI (CBSMiami) --Yet another Miami park has been found to have contaminated soil, making it the seventh park on the list.

According to our news partners the Miami Herald, sampling showed traces of lead in the park's soil.

Assistant City Manager Alice Bravo  told the paper, workers doing a survey of a 112 Miami parks last week found what they thought was a melted glass at the park . The workers then took soil samples from nearby locations.

While they found the surface soil showed no level of toxic lead, another sample further down tested positive for lead above allowable limits, according to the paper.

The county's chief of pollution control, Wilbur Mayorga, told the paper the city now has to do additional testing to determine the extent of the contamination.

Mayorga told the paper he does not think Bayfront park will close.

Last month, contaminated soil turned up at Curtis Park in Miami.

City officials confirmed that tests showed that the same toxic chemicals detected in five other parks were found in Curtis Park, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

The park, just north of the Miami River, is home to the police athletic league's Miami Jets. The city decided not to close it because much of the sprawling complex complete with basketball courts, baseball fields, football fields and a track is covered in artificial turf, concrete or rubber track.

The park sits just a few blocks from the site of Miami's old 20th Street incinerator, according to the paper, which the county shut down after it was found to violate the pollution control rules in 1975.

At least three Miami parks, where contaminated soil was found, Blanche, Merrie Christmas and Douglas Park were once used to dump incinerator ash, Assistant City Manager Alice Bravo told the paper.

While there are no records that ash was ever taken to Curtis Park, according to Bravo, records show that land between the river and the park was gradually filled in over the years. It's not clear whether that fill occurred naturally from silting, or from manmade dumping.

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