The Hammond Redevelopment Commission on May 20 approved a staff recommendation to fund additional soil delineation work at the Memorial Park property, 1301 Highland Street.

Redevelopment Commission staff told commissioners the site has detectable levels of mercury, arsenic and lead identified in earlier testing and that the originally contracted consultant had not sampled all locations for all contaminants. Staff said an additional $27,397 is needed to pay EnviroForensics for approximately five days of work to collect and analyze additional samples and define the contamination boundary.

Staff said the commission previously set aside $125,000 for remediation work and expects that amount will still be used for actual cleanup once delineation is complete. As staff put it, “We didn't overrun the project yet, but we still know that we have the remediation that set aside for, I think, it's a $125,000 already set aside to do that cleanup. But we need to really define where those places are.”

Commissioner Shelton moved to approve the EnviroForensics proposal for further soil delineation; Commissioner Tomage seconded. The roll call vote was five in favor and the motion passed.

No timetable for disposal or remediation of contaminated material was provided at the meeting, nor were specific remediation contractors named beyond EnviroForensics. Staff said further sampling will be used to define the area that will require removal and disposal.