Before Belo Garden, Soil Remediation

By Robert Wilonsky Thu., Sep. 17 2009 at 8:27 AM

Categories: News

Maybe you just forgot -- it's been a few years -- but there's supposed to be a Belo Garden downtown.

Said the city's own time line back in '07, the Belo Garden downtown should have been completed by ... let's see ... last month, matter of fact. And revised guesstimates last summer set the start date for construction at this summer. But there have been myriad reasons for the delay on the park that'll be paid for by Belo Corp., the Belo Foundation, Robert and Maureen Decherd and City Hall, chief among them the presence of tainted soil beneath the 1.5 acre parking lot bound by Main Street, S. Griffin Boulevard and Commerce Street.

Wrote Dave Levinthal in August '08, "the soil is contaminated with lead from a fire in the late 19th century." So, then, how to solve the problem and get crackin' on creating the "rich and diverse respite from the urban environment, offering perennial gardens and shaded groves that take their cue from the regional Texas landscape"? Brownfields Cleanup Grants, per the Park and Rec Board's meeting agenda today. The city will ask the Environmental Protection Agency and the North Central Texas Council of Governments for $200,000 apiece to deal with site remediation for Belo Garden. Because, as we mentioned last month, the city's hot to get moving on its downtown parks; and Belo Garden is included, along with the Pacific Plaza Park that's also still a parking lot, in the Dallas Downtown Parks Master Plan. Course, way back then it was called "Griffin Street Park."

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Possibly . . . .but they are building a 10 - 12 foot wall between the Metropolitan and the park. This will contribute to a questionsble safety factor.
Does anyone else find it ironic that many fairly mature trees were cut down to build a park? These trees were not only surviving but were thriving and already provided much needed shade. Typical!
Anything is better than looking out my window at a parking lot you have to pay 10.00 to park in
I wonder if The Metropolitan condos will sell at a higher price after this park is completed.
BTW, soil remediation actually is necessary. You never know when someone like Bob Decherd, Tom Leppert or Wick Allison will have a fit, throw themselves to the ground and start eating dirt uncontrollably. They have to be protected.
And where is the site for the DMN memorial plaque? What is currently the largest US city without a daily newspaper? House organs and fishwrap do not count.
Our results strongly demonstrate that both hydroxyapatite and phosphate rocks were effective in reducing Pb solubility and bioavailability through dissolution of hydroxyapatite or phosphate rocks and precipitation of pyromorphite. The effective and rapid Pb2+im mobilization from solution and contaminated soils by hydroxyapatite or phosphate rock, the limited effects from other minerals, anions, and cations, the apparent environmental stability of the reaction products, along with the ready availability and lowcost of hydroxyapatite or phosphate rock suggest that this approach might have great merit for cost-effective in situ immobilization of Pb contaminated water, soils, and wastes. http://www.p2pays.org/ref/37/36908.pdf
Every time I look at this lot I envision a huge sculpture akin to the Picasso in Chicago.
Does anyone else appreciate the irony that we are told, over and over, that trees and grass and gardens, etc. help clean the environment of pollution and toxic waste, and now we are told that in order to HAVE a new garden to help clean the soil, we first have to replace the contaminated soil. And, um, where are they going to put this "icky" contaminated soil? Somewhere else, of course, so it can be re-located again 5-10 years from now, at taxpayer expense. Ah, irony - it lets me laugh at the colossal foolishness of government operations...
So, how did this work... exactly? The cynic in me says that Belo took an inflated tax deduction by donating an environmentally contaminated site to the City and that any contributions from Belo et.al. to park construction will be more than offset by an increase in the value of their adjoining properties.
So the Decherds and their artsy/fartsy friends can raise how many millions to build a concert hall and bridge to nowhere, but can't come up with $400,000 to get started on a park? Wait, what about the stimulus money? I thought these "construction-ready" projects were exactly what that was about. Surely we could borrow $400,000 from China for such a worth-while project, no?
Good lord, this is what is so frustrating about the City sometimes. A 1.5 acre park that was supposed to be finished TWO YEARS ago, and they are just now realizing they need $400k to fix a soil problem??? Seriously? If I owned a condo in a nearby building like the Metropolitan (overlooks the park), or if I was a developer who proceeded with plans based on this park's timeframe...I'd be a little bit upset I do believe.
They have to "treat" the top ten feet of dirt on site to reduce the contamination levels and then truck it to a toxic waste dump. Then they have to bring in new soil to fill the giant hole. I wouldn't be surprised if it costs more than $400k.
Yeah, I'm not sure why it costs $400,000 to replace some dirt, but if that's what it costs then I'm glad the city is requesting the grants. I hope this project gets moving, along with Pacific Plaza (last we heard, the city bought the remaining chunk of land for it. any updates?).
Just a thought, but doesn't Home Depot carry 21st soil that costs less than 200K? Surely the EPA would approve?