Council right to protect the public

I commend Downingtown Borough Council for its recent vote to take precautionary measures to protect unsuspecting members of the public from the dangers of contaminants in the Kardon lands. Lately, there has been confusion in the press about exactly what is safe.

Following the judge's decision, I have read numerous comments in the Daily Local News, even from an elected member of Borough Council as well as her attorney, that the "park is safe." At the council meeting, the borough solicitor cleared up the confusion by reciting the DEP assumptions when it granted Act 2 clearance in 2000: Stay on the paved trails or predominantly east of them toward the ponds, limit the duration to an average of 10 minutes, and have users be predominantly adults and not children.

I was on the Downingtown Main Street Association during the 1990s at the time the original Act 2 release was obtained from the DEP. I did the original financial modeling for the borough to show how the cost of capping and/or cleaning up the contaminated land was prohibitive and how this could be accomplished with a private developer paying the tab.

The Act 2 release from the DEP specifically called for the lands west of the Lions Trail to be capped with commercial development with the rest remaining as a public park, according to the use restrictions noted by the solicitor. If, however, these use patterns were to change, the DEP release would no longer be valid.

Lest anyone be fooled by what might look pretty to the naked eye, there are contaminants throughout the Kardon lands in the surface soils that are well in excess of any levels considered safe. Among these are lead, arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene and mercury.

Consider the fact, for example, that the meadow along Pennsylvania Avenue has been found to have lead concentrations of 5,600 mg/kg, according to the test results. That is more than 10 times the limit most experts consider safe. Lead poisoning can lead to neurological disorders, learning disabilities, even brain damage in developing children. www.KardonParkFacts.com has more information about the contaminants found.

Until the judge's decision and all the misleading statements in the press that followed about the park being "safe" it was OK to leave things the way they were since the vast majority of park visitors stayed on the paved trails and didn't even think to veer off into the western lands be they open meadow or woods. However, during the recent trial it became known that some people were indeed going into these areas in contradiction to the DEP use limitations.

On top of that the judge's decision and those who are using it incorrectly to foment confusion about the nature of the DEP's order, are actually inviting the public to go into these areas where they should not venture. Therefore, Borough Council has done the right thing by trying to discourage public access to the contaminated lands until such time as the courts finally resolve the issue of the development.

Should the developer ultimately prevail in court, the entire park would be capped and made safe for use by the public and future residents.

Hank Hamilton

Chairman of the Downingtown
Marketing Support Agency