Miami Commissioners Find Money To Fund Contaminated Parks

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - It took Miami officials nearly a year to find the millions needed to clean up parks tainted with arsenic and lead from an old West Grove incinerator but it has finally happened.

During a lengthy meeting, commissioners approved funding in a vote around 1 a.m. on Tuesday. In voting for the $10 million bond issue, commissioners urged administrators to move quickly in the cleaning of  six parks, the incinerator site and other areas.

The money will cover all of the public sites, according to City Manager Daniel Alfonso.

"My understanding is this is what we know of right now," Alfonso told CBS4's News partner the Miami Herald. "We decided to borrow the money because it's better than doing this piecemeal thing."

The contaminated lands were discovered last September and prompted the city to test all 112 of its city parks.

The decontamination efforts will only aid public areas and specially designated zones, but not private properties.

Deputy City Manager Alice Bravo told the Herald that the city continues to try and reach agreements with private property owners to test for contamination, but had not yet come to terms with anyone.

Included on the clean-up list:

▪ Billie Rolle Domino Park, Curtis Park, Douglas Park and Southside Park, all of which tested positive for elevated levels of contaminants. The city has already funded clean-ups at Blanche and Merrie Christmas parks.

▪ Projects unrelated to the incinerator, including Grapeland Park and Melreese golf course, a Watson Island property and former gas stations.

▪ The City of Miami Fire Rescue Training Center, site of the defunct Jefferson Street incinerator that spewed ash over the West Grove.

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