MALDEN — The Board of Trustees of Pine Banks Park is advising park users and stakeholders that a wooded area of Pine Banks Park will be temporarily fenced off due to elevated lead levels detected during routine soil testing. The testing, conducted in preparation for future projects and improvements to Pine Banks Park, found that lead levels in the soil in this area exceeds thresholds established by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The affected area is along the wooded area adjacent to the southwesterly side of the rugby field. This area is not routinely used for recreation. Temporary fencing will be installed while additional assessments are performed. Pine Banks Park management and the Board of Trustees will closely monitor the evaluation of soil conditions in this area.
Elevated lead levels in this area are likely due to the historic use of this section of the park: in the mid-twentieth century, an area within the park was used to dispose of ash resulting from burning trash and refuse, a practice which was considered acceptable at the time. Subsequently, the same area was used for stockpiling surplus material from various construction projects.
Starting with construction of the large rectangular field which opened in 2003, Pine Banks Park has been systematically closing portions of this area of past dumping while restoring this area to park uses. This approach to incrementally address this concern has received significant support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cities of Melrose and Malden.
In this effort, the Park has addressed the environmental conditions which result from the previous use of the land while constructing the rectangular field, the softball field, the running track and the dog park.
Pine Banks Park management and the Board of Trustees recently initiated studies to incrementally close and restore the next section of former ash disposal land. Soil testing as part of these studies detected the elevated lead levels described above.
About Pine Banks Park
and the Board of Trustees
Former Malden Mayor Elisha S. Converse gifted the 107.5-acre estate to the cities of Melrose and Malden in 1905 to be jointly used “forever as a public park” and managed by a nonprofit
corporation comprised of a seven-member board of trustees from the two cities and a descendant of the Converse family. Pine Banks Park is a popular recreation facility, offering 2 synthetic multi- sport fields and three natural grass fields, several large picnic areas, a pond, playground, and several hiking trails in the woods.
