Park officials give update on Red Hook ball fields

<p>A meeting was held Monday night to update residents on lead remediations on the ball fields in Red Hook.</p>

News 12 Staff

May 1, 2018, 12:30 PM

Updated 2,332 days ago

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A meeting was held Monday night to update residents on lead remediations on the ball fields in Red Hook.
Back in 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency and the city Parks Department closed ball fields five, six, seven and eight, to begin work on a remediation plan following tests that found the park's soil to be contaminated with lead.
Soccer fields two and three were closed in 2016 along with ball field one through four in 2016.
While there is still more work ahead, the Brooklyn parks commissioner says there is a bright side.
"We have some remediations to do to the field," says Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Martin Maher. "So two-to-three times a year we like to meet with the stakeholders, the community, the elected officials, the leagues and teams that actually use the field to update them. The good news is, it's completely funded to redo all of the fields in Red Hook."
The contamination originated from the former Columbia Smelting and Refining Works, which manufactured metals from the 1920s to the 1930s. The $100 million cleanup is slated to be completed by 2023.