EPA collaborates with city and state to replace lead-contaminated soil at Atlanta’s Lindsay Street Park
Park to reopen this summer; project is part of long-term cleanup at the Westside Lead Superfund Site
Atlanta, Ga. (March 11, 2025) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun cleanup of Lindsay Street Park in the English Avenue neighborhood of northwest Atlanta, part of the EPA’s long-term work on the Westside Lead Superfund Site.
For the next three months, the EPA will excavate up to two feet of lead-contaminated soil, dispose of the soil off-site, replace the contaminated soil with clean fill and topsoil and restore the landscaping.
The City of Atlanta will replace the park’s playground equipment. The park, which has been closed since 2022, will then reopen.
“This federal-state-local partnership between EPA, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the City of Atlanta will get children back on the playground and residents back to enjoying their park,” said Administrator Kevin McOmber of EPA’s Southeast Region. “We are proud to play a role in making Lindsay Street Park safe for children.”
The EPA added the Westside Lead Site in 2022 to the National Priority List of sites requiring long-term cleanup. The soil in many residential and some nonresidential properties is contaminated with lead, the result of metal foundries that once operated in the area and the smelting waste they left behind.
The ongoing cleanup of the Westside Lead Site is expected to take six years and cost $49 million, funded by federal and state dollars.
“Federal partnership is crucial to completing the cleanup needed to make the neighborhood safer for all those who live, work and play on Atlanta’s Westside,” said Jeff Cown, director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. “We are grateful to EPA for their partnership and look forward to this popular park being reopened for the community.”
Lindsay Street Park opened in 2015 as the English Avenue community’s first public park. Spread over six once-blighted lots, the park was built with support from many community members, foundations, corporations and organizations. Researchers discovered lead contamination in the English Avenue community three years later, which led to the EPA’s cleanup.
More information about the Westside Lead Superfund Site.
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