BERLIN – Cleanup efforts at one of the town’s parks continue after a chemical spill in June.
Town officials said Monday that cleanup should be complete at Berlin Falls Park — which is now known as Heron Park — by the end of this week. They approved a $30,453 requisition to Chesapeake Environmental Services (CES) at Monday’s meeting.
“This would be the next to last invoice for the cleanup,” Mayor Gee Williams said.
In June, a chemical spill was identified at the park on Old Ocean City Boulevard as several old buildings at the former poultry processing plant property were being demolished. Town officials were alerted to the spill by a social media post from a resident that showed dead turtles in what looked like a pool of oil. Town leaders immediately contacted CES to handle the cleanup.
Though the town’s annual fireworks display was held at the park July 4, a few weeks later it was closed to the public. It has remained closed, and monitored by security guards, since late July. Town officials said closure was recommended by CES and the Worcester County Fire Marshal’s Office.
On Monday, Williams said he expected one more invoice of about $11,000 from CES, as the town has been paying the company monthly as the cleanup has progressed. The town has spent roughly $165,000 on cleanup efforts so far. Town staff said the money has come from the funding leftover from the $3 million bond that was used to purchase the park property.
“We’ll receive a final invoice after the cleanup this week for the next meeting,” Williams said.
The town is also working with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to address the spill. MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said earlier this month that the agency’s investigation into the spill was ongoing and that officials there had approved the cleanup plan that was underway at the park.
