The discovery of high levels of lead contamination in the soil at Harris Field last year forced construction of six new ball fields to come to a halt. But after being closed several months, construction has resumed and workers are confident they have removed all of the contamination.

It is still unclear when the high levels of lead were found and why they weren’t discovered earlier in the construction process. The Parks Department did not notify the community of the contamination and it was only made public after an investigation by the Norwood News last October.

The field was surrounded by fencing, but remained easily accessible due to flimsy wiring drawing criticism from local residents. On July 15, workers discovered a decomposing body in the field. Investigators believed the man was homeless.

Meanwhile, the cost of the project also increased to $13.8 million, due to the $5.2 million in added cleanup costs.

“Years of constant use had taken a toll on this important facility,” said Jesslyn Moser, a Parks Department spokesperson.

“We did not work for seven months,” said Carmine (who did not give his last name), a construction worker on the site. “We had to dig deep and excavate all of the contamination and remove it.”

Carmine is one of the five workers currently working on the field, which will include the reconstruction of four natural grass ball fields and the addition of two synthetic turf multipurpose fields. 

According to the Parks Department, the anticipated completion date was the spring of 2009, but questions remain if it will be ready by baseball season in 2011. Several local youth baseball leagues count on the field for practice and games and have suffered a drop in participation over the past two years.

Carmine said he was confident the project will be completed by the end of the year. “Right now I am putting up some concrete,” Carmine said. “Not working is what slowed us down, but at least all of the contamination is now gone.”

The Parks Department says that once constructed, the four natural ball fields will not be hazardous to play on because they have taken proper precautions.

According to the Parks Department, the synthetic turf fields were open to the public on Sept. 16. However, the fields appeared to be closed on a recent Wednesday afternoon. 
The Parks Department did not respond to follow-up questions.