Durham authorizes up to $674,757 for park cleanup-options study

Durham City Council voted 7-0 on Oct. 19 to authorize the City Manager to execute a supplemental agreement with A1 Consulting Group for environmental and geotechnical work at Lyon, Walltown, Northgate and East Durham parks. The study concerns cleanup options for lead contamination; it does not authorize remediation or select a remedy.

The agreement allows up to $643,415 for the work, plus a $31,342 contingency, for a total ceiling of $674,757. The consultant is expected to compare options, costs, risks and tradeoffs, review environmental information, identify testing gaps or discrepancies, and conduct community outreach.

Staff described the study as a four-to-six-month effort. The city expected the City Manager to execute the agreement, issue a Notice to Proceed and begin the work by the end of October. Those steps and the study do not themselves change park access or set a reopening date.

Five posted estimates are for one possible approach i

Durham Parks & Recreation posts cap-and-cover estimates for five parks. East End is included in that list but is not part of A1’s four-park study.

The five figures add up to $24.43 million. That is an estimate for cap-and-cover, not the cost of a selected or final cleanup plan, and it is separate from the study’s $674,757 ceiling. The city says $12 million is available to allocate toward the sites; staff described that figure as a placeholder. The $12.43 million difference between the posted estimates and that amount is arithmetic, not an established funding gap for a chosen remedy.

East End follows a separate redevelopment track i

Durham is evaluating East End through its park-redevelopment process. The city considers cap-and-cover ineffective there because of planned future work at the site. At an Oct. 8 work session, staff discussed a preliminary $10.8 million estimate for targeted soil removal and an approximately $4.5 million estimate for cap-and-cover, which staff said would not support planned future use. These are estimates for different approaches. The city’s posted East End cap-and-cover estimate is $4.19 million; the records reviewed do not reconcile the difference between that figure and staff’s approximately $4.5 million estimate.

The city says affected areas at the five parks remain fenced or access-restricted and has no firm reopening date. The council’s authorization does not set one.