Contamination a challenge on Outer Harbor

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The state’s leaner and greener plan for the Outer Harbor still has some obstacles to overcome, chief among them the contamination of 60 acres adjacent to properties targeted for residential and commercial development.

As Investigative Post reported in March, about 40 percent of the soil samples taken on the parcel detected contamination levels that made it unsafe for use as a park. The standards would be even stricter for using the property for residential purposes. If that’s not bad enough, one acre in the parcel is a partly remediated Superfund with a restriction against residential development.

Officials concede it’s going to take time and money to test and remediate the property before development can proceed.

How much clean up is required? What will it cost? Who will pay for it?

So far, there are more questions than answers.