The City of Eugene says the soil at Trainsong Park is more deeply contaminated with toxic chemicals than previously thought.
Several areas at the park—located at 2771 Edison St. in northwest Eugene—have been fenced off since 2022, after state regulators found a high concentration of dioxins in the ground.
According to the EPA, those chemicals can cause cancer or hormonal disruptions, and they’re sometimes created as an industrial byproduct.
Last year, the city secured a $1.5 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the park. Emily Proudfoot, the city’s principal landscape architect, said the original idea was to remove and replace the top foot of soil.
However, earlier this year, Proudfoot said new depth testing went two feet deep and uncovered that there were toxins there, too.
“In many locations, the contamination was worse as we went down,” said Proudfoot. “It's really awful.”
Proudfoot said because of that discovery, first reported by Lookout Eugene-Springfield, the clean-up that was supposed to happen this summer will likely be delayed to around this time next year.
She said the simplest solution would be to remove and replace two feet of soil, but that adds another million dollars in costs that the city can’t afford.
She said instead, Eugene could add more fresh soil to create a larger buffer, changing the height of the park in the process. She said the city will likely use some combination of the two approaches.
“We're going to be going down in some areas, probably up in some areas,” said Proudfoot, “but continuing to provide largely that two feet of cap everywhere that it's important.”
Rachel Rainwater, the secretary for the Trainsong Neighbors Association, is now calling for further investigation into the origin of the contaminants.
“We're all incredibly disheartened,” said Rainwater, “because this is an underserved area of Eugene that is constantly pushed to the backburner.”
The Trainsong neighborhood has been a historic center of industrial activity in Eugene and a witness to its environmental impacts.
The park is located less than a mile from the J.H. Baxter Superfund site, although environmental officials haven’t found a link between the contamination at each location.
Proudfoot said city officials don’t know the source of the soil in the park. But she said they believe it was added before Eugene purchased the property in the early 1980s.
Rainwater said neighbors are concerned about whether the contaminants extend beyond the park and onto residential property in the area. But she said testing is too expensive and there’s no financial aid available.
She said neighbors need more information about the health effects they should be watching out for.
“A lot of people in our neighborhood are not at the liberty to pick up and move. They're priced out of being able to move anywhere else,” said Rainwater. “Their only recourse is to just stay where they are and hope for the best.”
Currently, areas of the park, including the playground, remain open. Proudfoot said the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has confirmed that it is safe.
But with these new findings, Rainwater said she doesn’t plan on going back there to play basketball again.
