How will arsenic soil be removed from Miami Beach city park?

City manager: We 'never should have brought it there to begin with'

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Miami Beach officials are responding to questions about arsenic found in soil stored at a city park.

"We probably never should have brought it there to begin with," City Manager Jimmy Morales told Local 10 News. "It was sort of a decision on the fly."

What Miami Beach officials thought would be a win-win turned out to be a loss-loss -- loss of free fill from a beach condo developer, and from state road and sewer work, and a loss of faith from surrounding homeowners who learned in the last few days that the mountains of dirt stockpiled near their homes are tainted with higher-than-acceptable levels of arsenic.

The Bayshore Homeowners Association sent a letter to city hall Tuesday accusing the city of repurposing public green space to benefit developers.

"Every day I've seen people, dogs, children running on those piles," said Michelle Cameron, who has lived across from the public green space known as Par 3 Golf Course for 20 years.

Miami-Dade County environmental testing show the sand, soil and dirt have four times the acceptable limits of arsenic, as well as construction debris like plastic, brick and metal rebar that render the material unusable for the park renovation project the city originally intended.

READ: Memo from Miami-Dade County to Miami Beach

The directors of the Miami Beach Building and Public Works departments met with county environmental officials Tuesday to determine where and how to properly dispose of the fill.

"Our hope is that it doesn't cost anything, because the same contractor that brought it will take it," Morales said. "But if it turns out they attach additional conditions, we don't know those yet."

Morales could not confirm whether taxpayers would have to pay some of the costs.

The fill comes from two locations: a multi-million-dollar luxury condominium project by developer Faena at 34th Street and Collins Avenue, and the Florida Department of Transportation sewer construction along nearby Alton Road.

Morales said the Florida Department of Transportation crews assured the city the fill they were sending over was clean. The question of how materials that were clean at the source turned up contaminated at the site is still unanswered.

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About the Author:

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."