Five Durham parks have sat behind orange mesh fencing and padlocked chain-link gates for two years while the city waits for state approval of a $12 million lead remediation plan with no clear reopening date.
East Durham, East End, Lyon, Northgate, and Walltown parks were closed in late 2023 after a Duke University researcher found the sites once held waste disposal operations. A 1937 map shows four city-run waste incinerators that were later converted into parks. Soil tests by engineering firm S&ME Inc. found lead levels above 200 milligrams per kilogram. The EPA sets 400 milligrams per kilogram as the hazard threshold for children's play areas, but the CDC warns the 200-level is dangerous to children who might ingest dry or dusty soil.
The city expected final Remedial Investigation Summary reports from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality by March or April. Those deadlines passed. DEQ will not allow even partial reopenings until a full risk assessment is complete, and the agency has been backed up by contaminated sites across the state.
Councilmember Chelsea Cook said public land gets no priority in the queue. "We're having to wait in line for the results from the public spaces for the same amount of time as you would any other space," she said. "That's feeling really frustrating in this moment."
The stakes are real. Children under 6 face the greatest risk from lead exposure. Even low levels can cause permanent brain damage, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems. High levels can be fatal.
An early remediation estimate puts the soil cleanup cost at $10.47 million, with the full strategy reaching $12 million. A 2025 study ranked Durham 97th out of 100 major U.S. cities on park access, equity, and investment. Cook said the closures cut deepest in the neighborhoods that have always had the least. "We can't have a healthy community without having public space for gathering, for exercise, for being in nature," she said.