Greensboro council to review Bingham Park plans

The meeting will provide council members and members of the public the opportunity to hear presentations on the two options being explored for remediating Bingham Park, located off South English Street in East Greensboro.

Members of the public will also be able to give their opinions on Tuesday. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 W. Washington St., downtown.

The question of how best to resolve the White Street problem was raised at several public meetings in the spring.

Tuesday’s presentation will differ from those in one significant way: The White Street Landfill in Greensboro will no longer be one of the disposal sites proposed by city staff.

The decision to remove White Street came after residents raised concerns about potential health effects. Many also opposed White Street because they felt it amounted to sacrificing one predominantly black neighborhood for another.

This now leaves two options: a complete cleanup with potential disposal in two out-of-county landfills or a cover-up method in which the waste would be contained on site at the park.

The cost of the options varies widely, with an estimated difference of $30 million between the full remediation and on-site containment options.

The city has already identified approximately $18 million in funding from various government sources.

Regardless of which direction the city chooses, city staff are asking the council to allocate $10 million from money provided by the state government to the project and begin the formal planning process.

Here’s a look at the two options officials will consider Tuesday.

Community members and the Parks and Recreation Committee approved the complete rehabilitation of Bingham Park, which would require moving more than 11,000 truckloads of dirt from the property.

With the White Street Landfill now out of the question, two options remain for disposing of the dirt: the Great Oak Landfill near Asheboro and the Uwharrie Landfill near Troy.

Given its proximity to Greensboro, Great Oak would have a shorter project timeline, with completion estimated in about a year or a little less. Uwharrie is expected to take 16 months or more to complete the project.

The cost range for the two options ranges from $41.3 million to $43.4 million, with Great Oak being the cheaper alternative.

The full remediation option would also include provisions for monitoring air quality in the park while work is underway.

Under this option, the city would commit to rebuilding a park both in Bingham and at the nearby site of the former Hampton School, which would also be rehabilitated.

The second option is to leave the contaminated soil on site and cover it so that some limited recreational activities can take place on the site.

This option would add a foot-high layer on top of the contaminated soil and include topsoil and permeable geotextile fabric.

The area around the park’s creek would be restored and the former Hampton School site near the park would also be rehabilitated under this proposal.

Following land recovery, the city could build a pedestrian path and plant perennial flowers but not trees. A park on the Hampton School site could include more extensive amenities such as a picnic shelter, fitness equipment and a playground.

The shelter-in-place method is estimated to cost $12.4 million.