Public Comment

The Daily Planet had a headline article regarding concrete cracking at the skate park. Mixed in with this was my name, as well as eight-year-old comments about environmental issues from someone on the Disability Commission. There is no connection here. 

Concrete cracking is the result of poor construction or poor design. All of the design/engineering/environmental work on the skate park was done by people selected by Friends of the Berkeley Skate Park in conjunction with the City of Berkeley Parks Department. The Parks Department used the non-profit I chair, the Association of Sports Field Users (ASFU), as a conduit for funds to pay some of these groups- most notably Mike McIntyre of Site Design who was told to design a skate park that could be built for $225,000. 

The design that emerged was brave new world revolutionary and resulted in a skate park that was ranked as the best outdoor skate park in Northern California when it was completed. From a design perspective (ignoring the fact that the park designed was way over what was budgeted), Friends of a Berkeley Skate Park and the City of Berkeley Parks Department did an excellent job. 

As for the construction, contractors managed by ASFU did the site demolition and the initial earthwork shaping the bowls. However this work was stopped when chromium 6 was discovered in the water being pumped from underneath the deepest bowl. ASFU pulled off the job, the skate park was redesigned without any ASFU involvement and the city took on the role of construction manager. There is no connection between the concrete cracking and anything ASFU or I had to do with the project. 

Next up are the environmental issues that, as the City of Berkeley’s chief environmental officer states, “The cracking has nothing to do with the (environmental issues of) ground water.” 

Environmental concerns were one of the central political issues in the development of Harrison Park. The issues were both broad- we shouldn’t be building a park in an industrial neighborhood- and detailed- long-term air quality site studies should be done. 

Without going into a detailed rehashing of all the issues several points should be made. The University of California (which owned the land) and the City of Berkeley did extensive environmental work on the site, including groundwater, air and soils testing. All of this environmental work was reviewed by the City of Berkeley’s environmental office and it was determined that the site was suitable for use as a public park. 

At the time Harrison Park was being contemplated, there were two playing fields as well as 700 units of UC housing for families, many with small children, right next to the site. In ten years of experience the athletic community had more problems with asthma attacks, a proxy for air quality, at King Field due to the dust of the cinder track than at the playing fields adjacent to Harrison. UC considered the air quality a non-issue. 

LA Wood and others took the position that the air quality at Harrison was not ideal. The field user and skater community accepted this but took the position that there was no perfect site and that having the skate park and the playing fields was far better than not having them. This would still be the sentiment today. 

Finally we have the “Ah ha, we told you so!” chromium 6 that delayed the construction of the skate park. Prior to construction it was understood that the 9’ deep bowl desired by the skaters would get very close to the underground water table, particularly during the winter months when the tides were up. The solution to this problem was a deep vault where two pumps would be located to pump out the ground water to prevent it from entering the bowl. 

During construction the pumps were operating and it was not uncommon to come to the site and see a hose trickle of water going into the storm sewer. The City of Berkeley was having this water tested on a regular basis. About the time the earthen bowls for the skate park were being finished, chromium 6 was detected in the water, meaning it could no longer be put into the storm sewer. 

This discovery called a halt to the job because if the chromium 6-tainted water couldn’t be put in the storm sewer, it would have to be put into tanker trucks and hauled away at a cost that was prohibitive. It was theorized that the source of the chromium 6 was a site about a block away from the skate park and that the pumping of the water drew a plume of the chemical from the site. 

The City of Berkeley was aware of and monitoring the site but in reviewing the designs for the skate park, made no connection between the fact that the design called for continued pumping of the groundwater and that this continued pumping might result in contamination. But even with what happened, it’s important to remember that this mildly contaminated water was being taken away from underneath the construction site. It was not in drinking water and public exposure was virtually non-existent. 

After the park was redesigned in the winter months, there would be minute traces of the chemical in the seams of the concrete and the City of Berkeley took the extraordinarily conservative approach to close the skate park to prevent any possibility of human contact. After a couple of years, this problem went away and the skate park is now open 12 months a year. 

Harrison Park with its playing fields, community meeting building and skate park continues to be one of the busiest parks in the entire Bay area and I have absolutely no regrets about being involved in its development. It’s a great city asset. 

Doug Fielding is chairperson of the Association of Sports Field Users.