18 Nov, 2015

Park 15 Temporary Closure

In the last 48 hours, City of Adelaide has detected contamination in soils in Ityamai-Itpina (Park 15). This was identified as part of routine preparatory works ahead of a planned upgrade to the park. The contamination was not previously known to Council.

The presence of the contaminants is consistent with many urban areas where fill materials from older industry and street sweepings are present. In this instance the contamination has been identified as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).

While the concentrations of PAHs vary across Ityamai-Itpina (Park 15), and some levels exceed generic soil guidelines, this does not automatically mean there is a risk to the health of people using the park or who have previously used the site. Based on the specialist advice received to date, it is unlikely that members of the public who have accessed and used the park have been exposed to unacceptable levels of risk.

What it does mean, is that it is important that additional work is undertaken to fully understand the contamination at the site so that we can implement appropriate measures to fully remediate the environment and ensure there is no risk of any future exposures. While this work is undertaken, access to the Park 15 play space has been temporarily closed.

ACC will continue working with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), in its role as the environmental regulator, to ensure the appropriate method to fully remediate the site for public use is implemented.

Further updates will be provided in coming weeks.

Rebecca Draysey