What's next for the Durham parks closed for lead issues
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East End Park is one of five parks in Durham that have been closed due to lead concerns. Photo: Zachery Eanes/Axios
Durham officials still cannot say when lead contamination will be cleaned up in five city parks that remain fully or partially closed.
Why it matters: It's been nearly two years since testing showed the soil in those five parks is contaminated with lead, and the state's Department of Environmental Quality continues to investigate the extent of the issues.
Zoom in: The partial closures of Walltown, East Durham, East End, Northgate and Lyon parks have frustrated many residents, who can no longer use several of the parks' playgrounds. The orange fencing the city uses to cordon off parts of the parks has become an eyesore for many neighborhoods.
- The contamination is also delaying major improvements already planned for East End Park, which was part of an $85 million bond passed by voters in 2024.
- Before the 1960s, Durham had trash incinerators in Walltown, East End, East Durham, and Lyon parks, which are within historically Black neighborhoods. Northgate did not have an incinerator, but ash was used as infill in the park.
- A Duke researcher found in 2022 that the parks that were previously home to trash incinerators or used ash as infill had lead concentrations higher than EPA standards.
Driving the news: DEQ's final report on which sections of each park will need remediation is expected in the coming weeks. Then the process of developing a remediation plan will begin.
- DEQ will release costs and an initial plan for remediating each park, likely this summer, which will be followed by a window for public comment on the plans.
- The city will then determine if it will proceed with the state's chosen remedy or instead select to work with a consulting firm to develop an alternative plan from the state's.
Zoom out: A spokesperson for DEQ declined to give an estimated timeline. Depending on how Durham moves forward after receiving the state's recommendation, timelines for reopening the parks could vary widely.
- Wade Walcutt, the director of Durham Parks & Recreation, said the city is committed to quick action once the state's final reports are received, but a timeline remains unknown.
- "Given the anticipated scope, [remediation] will likely require a substantial planning phase(s) followed by construction and may exceed the current budget" of $12 million that the city has set aside for the parks, Walcutt said in a statement.
What they're saying: "We can't take any actions until we know what the reports are going to say. So right now we're just kind of left in the dark," Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams told Axios of its dilemma with the parks.
- Williams said he doesn't want the parks to be mired in back-and-forth discussions with no remediation happening for an extended period of time.
- But he acknowledged that fixing the parks could be costly, while generating no revenue themselves.
- "We have to make tough decisions of how much more we're going to invest to expedite the process [of remediating] and determine the speed in which we get things back to normal," he said.
