Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Cambridge city officials fenced off Gold Star Mothers Park after recent soil testing detected lead and other contaminants.
“I’ve seen so many people come up to this fence not knowing its closed and then just turning around in sadness,” Michael, who lives nearby the park, told WBZ NewsRadio.
The city said the park will remain closed now through 2027 for the decontamination process. The Department of Public Health attributed the elongated process to staffing shortage at the Environmental Protection Agency, whose cooperation is needed as part of the re-opening.
“I think when they put the initial signs up people were thinking like months not multiple years,” Michael said.
Some other residents also said they did not expect the park would be closed for the next two years.
“[It’s] pretty frustrating,” one resident added. “A little scary too, obviously.”
The park used to be the sight of a meat processing plant that burned down in 1963.
WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas (@JamesRojas.bsky.social) reports.