Michigan City Lies to Residents About Dangerous Lead Counts at City Park

Apparently back in 1999, and perhaps even earlier, city officials found out that the west side of the large park near city hall was contaminated and contained high levels of lead on two baseball diamonds. More testing from 2001-2005 by Wayne County testers found even more lead in high concentrations around the soccer fields and the large play scape.

All the while, the City of Westland didn't tell the citizens a single thing. Mayor Sandra Cicerelli said that there was no intent to hide information from the public but that a plan was close to being completed for the cleanup. But if that were the case, why did the city wait until public information was leaked in order to close down the park? Doesn't that seem a little suspicious?

As an eleven-year resident of the city, I have played on those baseball diamonds and had picnics on those fields during the Fourth of July celebrations. I think I had the right to know about the problem before I engaged in But another thing that really irks me about all of this is the fact that the park was constantly pushed as a town center of sorts by the city and made out to be one of the city's top attractions, if not the top attraction, despite the fact that it was built on top of a landfill.

Read any city pamphlet, calendar, or check out some of the web pages from 1999-2005 and you'll see the city touting the myriad events that are held there. They'll boast about why the park is a great place to visit and how the play areas are top-of-line and great for kids to visit. If only the parents knew any better.

Residents have flooded city hall meetings like never before to voice their displeasure with this turn of events, and one local gym even poked fun at the city's misfortune by advertising their "Unleaded Workouts" on the sign outside.

At any rate, let the Westland saga be a warning to citizens of other cities: keep an eye on local government officials and try to make it to a city council meeting every once in a while to stay informed on the issues. Examine your leaders' decisions and don't be afraid to ask questions when something doesn't seem right.