MIAMI – The City of Miami and Miami-Dade County's Department of Environmental Resource Management say they are currently performing an area wide sampling as a result of concerns raised with the former incinerator site in Coconut Grove.
City officials said an early sample identified contaminated soil at Blanche Park.
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Additionally, authorities said two areas of contaminated soil and evidence of solid waste were identified at Merrie Christmas Park, located at South LeJeune Road and Barbarrosa Avenue, from samples taken there as part of the area wide sampling.
The park is being closed until further sampling can be performed and necessary actions are identified.
The city is working closely with DERM and the State Department of Health as further testing is performed and plans are developed to permanently remedy the issue, officials said.
"The City of Miami is working with other agencies to do whatever is needed to guarantee the safety of our residents and park visitors," said Mayor Tomas Regalado.
Several other area parks and schools have been tested and officials said samples did not reveal similar concerns.
"What is broken we will fix. Our primary concern now is to swiftly gather the information necessary to make sound decisions for safeguarding the health and safety of our community and visitors to the park," said Chairman Marc Sarnoff, District 2 Commissioner.