The story of contamination at Harris Field appears in our top stories because it would not have been a story at all if a Norwood News reporter had not asked the simple question: what’s taking so long?

It also probably would not have been as big a story if the Parks Department, which is in charge of the renovations currently under way at Harris, had been more forthcoming about what kind of contamination they had found and what they were doing to fix the problem.

Here’s what we know: Sometime this fall, the Parks Department discovered heavy metals while digging up earth in one section of Harris Field. After telling the Health Department about it, construction crews dampened the contaminated soil and placed a tarp over it. Since then, they called in an independent consultant to tell them what to do with the contaminated soil.

Here’s what we don’t know: What kind of specific heavy metals contamination was found? (A Department of Environmental Protection staffer said at a local meeting that it’s lead, but the Parks Department hasn’t confirmed this.) What did the consultant find? When will the construction be completed? Why is the Parks Department being so secretive about this?

The Norwood News filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with the Parks Department in October, and the agency responded that it would take them 60 business days to reply. The Committee on Open Government, the state agency created by FOIL, recommends that agencies respond to requests within 20 business days.

The immediate fallout of all this is that at least two baseball fields won’t be ready for little league play this spring. The long-term fallout may be a loss of trust in the Parks Department
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