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Falmouth youth baseball complex closed due to contaminants in soil

The town is working with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to remediate the site.

The town of Falmouth announced the closure of the John L. Neill youth baseball complex Monday following the discovery that the soil contained excessive levels of lead, arsenic, glass and PCBs.

Now, the town is awaiting the results of a risk assessment that will give more specific information about the contaminants.

That's according to Falmouth Town Manager Mike Renshaw. He says the contaminants were discovered while the town was working to install better lighting at the baseball field.

“The contractor that the town retains was responsible for boring into the soil to create the foundation for these light poles,” he said. “During the course of the borings, they discovered some metals—literally metal pieces and glass shards.”

The town began investigating, hiring another contractor for more testing and contacting the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Renshaw said. The town met with MassDEP on January 15. They’ll meet again next week once the results of the risk assessment come back. MassDEP will then help the town develop a remediation plan.

So far, the investigation has revealed that the baseball complex is built on top of an old landfill.

According to Renshaw, the site was an active municipal landfill in the 1940s and ’50s. The area stopped being used as a landfill in the early 1970s. By 1977, the town was building a baseball field in that same spot.

“We know much more now with regards to environmental risks and hazards associated with some of these elements, that perhaps they didn't have a full understanding of in the ’70s,” Renshaw said. “Going forward, any time the town is considering a new athletic space that’s going to [have] youth sports played on them, we're going to do better due diligence.”

Renshaw also noted that state standards have become more stringent since the field was built. Now, the state requires three feet of soil on top of a landfill before the space can be used for anything. Renshaw said there are about six to 12 inches of soil on top of the field right now.

As for whether the complex will be cleaned up in time for the youth baseball season this spring, Renshaw said he is not sure yet. The risk assessment results—which he expects will come in next week—will help answer this question, he said.

“It's my hope that we'll be able to perhaps remediate the site in phases, which would possibly mean being able to use one or more of the fields,” Renshaw said. “The backup contingency plan is going to be to utilize and schedule youth baseball on some of the other fields the town owns.”

In addition to the baseball fields, the athletic complex also has a multipurpose field. Renshaw said he does not think this field was impacted by the landfill, but the risk assessment will answer that more definitively.

Renshaw said there will soon be a dedicated web page on the town website where people can get the latest information on the situation. For now, that information can be found here.

Gilda Geist is a reporter and the local host of All Things Considered.