Lead contamination closes sports fields at Charlotte park

The park, previously a landfill and incinerator site, showed contamination during routine soil tests

The following article appeared in the February 19, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.

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Traces of lead found at county park near South End; could be 2 years before it’s resolved

Elevated lead levels in the soil at Southside Park have forced Mecklenburg County officials to fence off the park’s sports fields while state environmental regulators run tests and the county decides how to solve the problem.

The park, which is located near I-77 and Remount Road, west of South End, was a landfill before the City of Charlotte turned it into a park in the late 1960s, and the site with the lead contamination held a waste-burning incinerator until 1950.