That curious abandoned area on Gadsden by the train tracks...

OK, so I got curious, and more importantly, bored. So I decided to look around and see what I could find about those areas near the tracks by Van Buren, where we used to walk the dog.

I found out that right next to the tracks used to be "Cascade Park Landfill." So, Ok, it was a landfill before. what happened? Well, the EPA went out and looked at it, and in their report, they said

"COAL SLAG, BATTERIES(FROM CITY INCINERATION), AUTOMOBILE PARTS AND COAL TAR BY PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN DISPOSED OF INTO AN AP PARENT (sic) SINKHOLE. SITE IS NEAR TWO MUNICIPAL WELLS. COAL TAR SEEPS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED COMING FROM THE LANDFILL.COAL SLAG, BATTERIES(FROM CITY INCINERATION), AUTOMOBILE PARTS AND COAL TAR BY PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN DISPOSED OF INTO AN APPARENT SINKHOLE. SITE IS NEAR TWO MUNICIPAL WELLS. COAL TAR SEEPS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED COMING FROM THE LANDFILL. ESI Complete 06/03/97. NPL Caliber site being addressed by an EE/CA. Mindy M. Gardner 8/29/00"

So now you know about that part of it.

But what about the building and the rest of the area. The landfill wasn't on both sides of the street. Well, the other side of the street was "Cascade Park Gasification Plant."

Gasification plant? Doing a little research, I found one of the environmentalists that dealt with the problem when it was first discovered. He wrote

"In 1895 a Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) was built right next to the Cascades. It heated coal to purify gas elements for consumer use. The byproducts of this common practice of the time seeped into the area under the noses of the people alive in that time. These contaminants include volatile organic compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, metals, ammonia, nitrate, cyanide, sulfates, and phenolic compounds. This plant operated until about 1957. 1923 marked the arrival of Centennial Field, a baseball site for the city. This was an area for many people to enjoy an outdoor park, baseball games, and picnics galore until its closure in the 1970’s. The Cascades site also included uses for an incinerator plant and also a landfill. This landfill was originally designed for the disposal of tree limbs, stumps, and roots. Reportedly construction, automobiles, and other debris and ash from the incinerator were also processed at the landfill. The landfill operated from 1928-1936.
The site is no known as the Cascade Park Gasification Plant/Cascade Landfill Site and the former Centennial Field Site. None of the industries mentioned are still in operation, but their effects last far beyond. Cascade Creek had been rerouted during the time of the site’s activity, contributing to its environmental damage. In the 1970’s Secretary of State Richard Stone succeeded in putting the creek back to its original path as part of a project to restore the area to its original state. It was considered an object of cultural pride and historical significance and thus important to have in its best condition. Further processes of restoring the area were halted when money ran out and also because of contamination levels of the soil and water. Levels of contaminates were so high that the area would be unsuitable for restoration until further attention was given to the extent of damage from the MGP plant, incinerator, and landfill, as well as the railroads nearby. The area is subject to flooding and cannot handle high flows of water. Residents in the area have reported finding coal tar on their properties, no doubt washing up from waste due to the byproducts of the MGP plant." (http://www.gly.fsu.edu/faculty/wise/1000hydro/year2/troy.html)

Sorry for the huge chunk of text, but it was all interesting and slightly relevant...

Anyhow, it is apparently being cleaned up now, somehow. So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.


Your moment of zen:
I pity the people who get to go out and mow the lawn on this contaminated site. Do they get to know what its contaminated with, or does their superior leave them in the dark to amuse himself?