Sportsman’s Park to be tested for lead contamination
Environmental crews will begin taking soil and water samples from Naperville’s Sportsman’s Park within the next two weeks to determine the level of lead contamination.
Naperville city and park district officials have agreed to work together to rid Sportsman’s Park of lead contamination. and last year enrolled the city in a state Environmental Protection Agency Site Remediation Program aimed at ridding the park grounds of about six decades’ worth of lead contamination from trapshooting at the site along West Street near downtown.
The city and park district hosted an open house Wednesday night to inform the public that work is about to begin at the site.
Park District Executive Director Ray McGury said the park district has several capitol and replacement projects scheduled for the park upcoming and remediation is the top priority.
“It needs to be done. It needs to be cleaned up,” he said. “So it’s going to get done.”
Still to be worked out is how much each agency will pay and what their staff responsibilities will be for the project. Those details will be decided once the soil and water samples are analyzed and the level of contamination is determined. The city owns the property but has leased it to the park district since 1988.
The property has been used for shooting sports since roughly 1937. Only steel pellets have been used there since 1998 when a settlement agreement signed by the city, park district and others banned lead shot and adopted certain environmental protections enforced by the IEPA.
Naperville Sportsman’s Club Director Jim Chakour said the club also supports the remediation so the facility can remain a vital park for avid shooters for years to come.
“We want this park to be here for the community forever so if this process allows it to happen, We’re all for it,” Chakour said. “It’s in everyone’s best interest for those contaminated particles to be gotten out of there.”
The park district has maintained EPA-recommended levels of lead in certain areas of the park, but the site remediation program is designed to rid the entire site of lead.