City of Anaheim, CA

10/19/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/19/2021 15:53

Boysen Park temporarily closes

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Oct. 19, 2021) - Boysen Park is temporarily closed as Anaheim undertakes soil testing at the park along State College Boulevard and Vermont Avenue.

The testing comes after samples of lead were found in the ground during construction at neighboring Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School.

Preliminary soil testing at Boysen Park found a small amount of lead in one out of 10 samples.

Our additional testing will determine what level of concern, if any, there may be at the park or if any cleanup is needed in some areas.

We do not believe there is any immediate safety issue at Boysen Park. But you'll see fencing up and the park closed out of an abundance of caution as we work with our state partners to do further testing.

Additional soil testing started this week throughout the park. Results are expected in the coming month.

Once we have results, we will reopen any and all areas that have no soil issues. If samples find issues in some areas, we will work to remediate and meet or exceed state standards.

Before Boysen became a park, part of the area was actually used as a city trash dump. In 1963, with the dump no longer needed, the site was converted to a park.

We're testing and measuring soil samples against current state standards that require at least 2 feet of clean soil below the surface.

Anaheim learned of potential lead in the soil during the rebuilding of Roosevelt Elementary School from 2019 to mid-2021.

The school, which sits on the northwest side of Boysen Park, recently completed a major rebuilding project. Routine soil testing during construction showed some samples of lead in areas of the school site.

After the discovery, the school notified the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, which performed additional testing and notified the city of Anaheim that soil analysis at Boysen Park may be needed as a precautionary measure.

While we never like to close our parks, we're hoping to take this opportunity to make Boysen better by advancing some previously planned park improvements.

With the park closed, we will begin work sooner on various projects we've been planning. More details to come.

As we work to reopen Boysen as quickly and responsibly as we can, we encourage residents to enjoy other nearby Anaheim parks.

More information at Anaheim.net/boysen.