(West Palm Beach, FL) – Everyone knew the proposed site for the new baseball spring training complex was an old landfill. But a new report by environmental experts now shows that the site is fine for the ballparks, and that the project will be safe for the groundwater underneath.
The new report, just completed by the URS Corporation (a firm hired as part of baseball’s due diligence for the site) actually provided some unexpectedly good results. It found that underground water actually flows away from a canal on the properties south end.
The study did find exactly what was expected: pockets of waste dating back to the decades the site was used as a landfill. And while those pockets are officially labeled “regions of environment concern” (RECs) because of their contents, nothing found on the property was considered project-stopping.
The report concludes “that soil and groundwater at the site would be acceptable for the proposed reuse of the Site. Pilot screening trials of the materials in the mounds indicate that SSW soils are acceptable for use on site for site grading and fill without detriment to the groundwater.”
Design of the project continues to progress as baseball and the County continue to work with the City on the design of the facility which will be located near Haverhill Road and 45th Street in West Palm Beach.
Meanwhile, also still on track is the land swap agreement between the City and County for the land. Final details are still being hammered out and the agreement is expected to be ready for signatures by the end of the summer.
