Photo by stgermh

Things continue to look up for the future of the Fort Reno Summer Concert Series, as well as for general safety concerns in the neighborhood surrounding Fort Reno Park. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released official soil sampling results today which confirmed preliminary results that show arsenic levels in the park are well below what is considered safe.

Lab results verified by the EPA showed arsenic levels in 13 samples had a range from 0 to a high of 12.3 parts per million of arsenic. The EPA considers 43 parts per million of arsenic to be safe, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry considers levels below 20 parts per million to pose no threat to humans.

The Fort Reno closure was prompted by a USGS aerial photograph used to identify areas of potential arsenic contamination, and by subsequent soil analysis by the agency that showed arsenic levels between 100 to 1100 parts per million. The USGS will now conduct another analysis of their samples, using a different lab and a different method, with results expected by the end of the week.

Fort Reno Park remains closed, but Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh sent out an email to her constituents earlier today saying that she and Mayor Adrian Fenty would use their “best efforts to get the National Park Service to open the park.”

Fort Reno Summer Concert Series organizer Amanda MacKaye told us via email that she has yet to hear from the Park Service, but that she still plans on holding concerts at Fort Reno this summer.