Bloomberg Plan To Turn Toxic Garbage Dump To Park Not Working So Well

So says the Murdoch Post:

Mayor Bloomberg's ambitious plan to turn a former Staten Island landfill into a massive public park is sinking -- literally.

The city has hit a major snag in the early stages of a three-decade effort to transform the 2,200-acre former Fresh Kills Landfill along the West Shore Expressway into green space nearly triple the size of Central Park.

The project's long-delayed first segment -- bringing four soccer fields and other amenities to 28 acres at the edge of the former garbage dump -- is on hold again because its foundation is sinking.

Parks Department workers and the contractor hired to build Owl Hollow Fields for the Fresh Kills Park project believe tons of sand laid out as foundation fill has dropped between eight inches and a foot, sources close to the project told The Post.

"If problems like this are happening at this stage, just imagine when they try building thousands of acres in the heart of the landfill," said Geoffrey Croft, of watchdog group New York City Park Advocates.

...

Originally estimated to cost $6.8 million in 2006, the project price tag is already up to $14 million. About $4.5 million was spent cleaning the site after the state Department of Environmental Conservation discovered it was contaminated with toxic PCBs.

The city had previously claimed the Owl Hollow site was never used as a dump, only as a staging area for equipment. But workers uncovered refuse during construction, sources said.

OK, so this is the part of the dump where there was supposedly no garbage - but the EPA found cancerous toxins.

Now that those have been cleaned up, the land is sinking.

And they haven't even gotten to the heart of the dump yet - where all the garbage is.

What person in their right mind says "Let's turn a dump with cancer-causing toxins into a park for kids?"

The Mayor of Money, that's who.

Maybe if this park idea doesn't work out, they can build some schools on the site?