More Fields Reopen as Greenwich High Environmental Cleanup Continues

Though the beleaguered Greeniwch High School Music Instructional Space and Auditorium project, or “MISA” remains delayed due to the discovery last summer of toxic soil, some good news for GHS athletes and their fans is in the works.

Artificial turf fields 6 and 7, the two at the northern-most end of the campus are now open without restriction.

Moving south to fields 3 and 4, chain link fencing delineates the off-limits status of both the turf as well as the bleachers, though remediation work is near completion. The town is awaiting approval from the relevant regulatory agencies to put these two turf fields back to use.

Remediation efforts to field 2, which is real grass and is known as the “baseball field,” are nearing completion according to Monday’s environmental testing update distributed by Schools Director of Communication, Kim Eves. Once cleared by regulators, there should be time for maintenance work to proceed before onset of winter weather and a traditional spring baseball season anticipated.

According to the update, the DEEP and DPH have informally approved the use of real grass field 5 by the public, as well as field maintenance, and formal approval is anticipated shortly.

Lemonade from Lemons
This year, the, though teams were impacted differently. Some teams relocated practice to middle school fields or to Julian Curtiss School. Others were able to share Cardinal Stadium, which was the first of seven fields to be re-opened, just in time for the beginning of the school year. The GHS field hockey team, for example, which in a typical year plays home games on turf field 3, was lucky to play their matches in Cardinal Stadium.

Environmental Study, Phase I Site Assessment Completed
According to Monday’s joint release by the BOE and the town, the Phase I site assessment report was completed in August, and “identified the likely source of contamination as PCB-containing fill materials that was used during the construction of GHS in 1970.”

Phase II
According to the release, Phase II typically involves collecting data from soil and groundwater in the areas identified in Phase I. The release goes on to say that samples of soil have been “characterized,” identifying “pockets of PCB contamination or ‘hot spots’ beneath some areas of the GHS property,” yet there is no mention of water tests undertaken. The release refers in future tense to plans to “evaluate deeper soil, groundwater, surface water and sediment.”

Stalled MISA Project
Soil boring tests, which were delayed due to the recent storm, were finally done this past Sunday and results are scheduled to be available the week of November 21st. Results will be help determine next steps for the MISA project.

Public Health
Toxicologist with the state Department of Public Health, Sharee Rusnak, addressed the health risks to children vis-a-vis toxic soil at , explaining that state standards are conservative because they’re designed to protect children under two years old who have a lot of hand-to-mouth contact. “Yes, I believe you are safe,” she said.

Immediate Next Steps
The town and its environmental consultant, AECOM, are working on estimates of work, schedule, and budget for the environmental study, remediation, and post remediation maintenance and monitoring. Estimates are preliminary and will evolve but will give the town a sense of potential costs and timeline, and will be shared with the community.

“Significant Environmental Hazard Notification”
The Town recently submitted a notice of Significant Environmental Hazard to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), a requirement resulting from discovery of contaminated soil within two feet of the surface. DEEP, in turn has required the town to post signs on the GHS site identifying the presence of contaminated soils.