By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(Jan. 16, 2020) The effort to open at least some portions of Heron Park in time for warmer weather was on the Berlin Town Council agenda Monday, and though some possibilities were discussed, no consensus was reached on what can be done to speed up the process.

By Morgan Pilz
Heron Park has been closed to the public for several months, though Berlin Mayor Gee Williams
and town council members discussed potentially reopening in the late spring on Monday, Jan. 13.

“It has been recommended that there are ways that we can reopen the park safely using caution tape … something that has to go [around] rocks and stones and metal that still remains out there,” Mayor Gee Williams said during the meeting. “The job of the mayor and council will be to determine what can be cleaned up in what order in the spring to get 85-95 percent of the cleanup done before the warmer weather actually occurs.”

Heron park – previously known as Berlin Falls Park and the property of the former Tyson chicken processing plant – was closed after an undisclosed amount of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda or lye) was spilled in June during demolition work by a contractor.

Sodium hydroxide is extremely alkaline with a pH level of 13, and can be used as an industrial cleaning agent because it dissolves grease, fat and oils, while it is also used in the manufacture of paper.

Chesapeake Environmental Services handled the clean-up process, the final cost of which was estimated at $283,000.

“There are no known chemicals on site,” Fleetwood told the council Monday. “There are five areas down there in the last year … all those areas have been cordoned off,” he said. “They are not six-foot fences, but it’s been [blocked] off and there is signage there that says keep out.”

Williams said more work needs to be done around those areas to finish the cleanup.

“Once everything is cleaned up in the areas … the residue will be covered over with grass,” he said. “We’re just waiting for all the final work to be done.”

Councilman Zackery Tyndall asked about any possible cleanups that could be done by the town to speed up the process, which Fleetwood answered by saying there could be small piles of lumber or driftwood that could be picked up starting next week.

The council hopes to obtain more information on the situation before voting on its next step.