Bayfront Park in Miami has contaminated soil

The 32-acre Bayfront Park in Miami has been discovered to have contaminated soil, though the city does not expect to shut it down. Workers examining all 112 parks in Miami last week found contamination in an area at 301 Biscayne Boulevard that was mostly vacant and rarely used.

The finding of toxic incinerator ash led to the closure of four parks in the city. Wilbur Mayorga, chief of pollution control in Miami-Dade County, said the state would not consider the lead found at Bayfront Park to be at the level at which it would be hazardous to one’s health.

“It’s a concern,” Tim Schmand of the park-operating nonprofit Bayfront Park Management Trust told the Miami Herald. “We’re going to do whatever is suggested for us to do to make sure the areas are safe and available to the public — or not available to the public, until they’re made safe.”

In 2010, the park received more than 150 palm trees as part of an extensive renovation, as previously reported. [Miami Herald] — Mark Maurer