Popular Everett park closed until spring during cleanup

EVERETT, Wash. — A busy North Sound park will shut down starting Tuesday while crews clear contaminated dirt.

The picnic shelter, playground, and ballfields will be off limits at American Legion Memorial Park in Everett.  The golf course will remain open.

The state has been cleaning up the area after tests in the 1990s showed there was contamination left behind from an old smelter that operated from operated from 1894 until 1912.

The Herald reports the park should reopen next spring, but the job won't be complete because more funding is needed.

The cleanup had been funded by an environmental settlement with the smelter owner, but that money is now running out.

The state says there is no immediate health hazard for those living in the area.

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