Tree Removal and Hazardous Conditions

US EPA currently plans to cap Reed Park and remove most of the trees. Reasons given for removing the trees include:

It would cost money to save them
Only a few people at public meetings focused on saving the trees.
The roots of trees only extend 8” below the surface and putting two feet of fill above the roots of the trees to cap the soil would deprive them of oxygen and eventually kill them
Many of the trees are old
Some trees are sick or dead
Some species of trees are undesirable
Some of the trees are not structurally sound and could fall on children
If a tree blows down, exposing the roots, subsurface contamination would also be exposed

We need to have activists, ecologists, arborists, and others accompany the forester and EPA in the park on Saturday.

A previous brownfields study in the park showed concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) above those acceptable for direct human contact in the fill material sampled to depths of 2’ or 4’ in most of the park. Three to six inches of grassy topsoil has been covering most of the surface of the park and subsurface fill material for about 50 years or more. Portions of the park are also covered with concrete or sand (in the baseball diamond).

The topsoil was never separately analyzed to determine if it presents a significant risk from direct contact. Fungus and other microorganisms in grassy topsoil have been found to destroy PAHs at a rate of 0.2% to 17% per month. Microorganisms associated with tree roots can also destroy PAHs. For details, see http://www.academia.edu/2908115/Comparison_of_Trees_and_Grasses_for.... Until the topsoil, etc. are sampled and analyzed, NO SIGNIFICANT RISK FROM DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE SOIL AT THE SURFACE OF THE PARK HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED, although there would be a need to rebury or treat contaminated fill material that would be excavated where and when the City does any construction in most of the park.

For more details, see:

http://freindsofwcreedfield.ning.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/218610251634716/permalink/218663454...