Toxic ash buried in Champions Park was not exposed by the Bourbon & Beyond Music Festival, according to state and city testing, and Edith Avenue has been reopened.
A portion of the park that still needs to be restored remains gated.
Officials were conducting the tests because RVs and other vehicles could have unearthed hazardous waste from the former Edith Avenue Landfill while driving in the mud at the Bourbon & Beyond festival in September. The potential rupture of a former landfill beneath Champions has caused neighbors and an environmental advocate to question whether such festivals and events should be allowed at the park in the future.
Citizen members of the Champions Park Advisory Committee told LEO on Friday that they hoped that Danny Wimmer Presents, which hosts Bourbon & Beyond and two other festivals that take place at Champions Park, would stop using the landfill site for camping.
“My question is, how can you let them come back because you never know how the weather will be?” asked Mary Brady.
The Mayor’s Office did not respond immediately to questions about the future of festivals at the park. But according to the release, Mayor Greg Fischer said the test results assure that Champions Park will remain a “great venue for recreation” for park-users and festival-goers.
On Friday, city officials said the protective layer of clay above the landfill remained intact, according to results from two independent labs that were detailed in a news release.
The state Energy and Environment Cabinet and an environmental firm hired by the city took the samples from the area.
Runoff sediment from the ash underneath the landfill tested positive for lead in 1991, according to state inspection documents.
Now that test results are in, a contractor will begin smoothing out the ruts and tracks left by the vehicles.
