"I will be returning to work at this site when it has been made safe for children."

After a few days of confusion, perhaps the urban garden craziness is getting clearer. Keep New Albany Clean & Greens's Jerry Finn had this to say in a note to NAC:

"Michele (Finn) was taking the lead on the Urban Fusion garden, but community gardens have been an initiative of Keep New Albany Clean and Green since it was first incorporated in April of 2011. We will move forward with community garden plans, and look forward to the day that Michele is able to get re-involved."

Michele herself speaks in this mailing to her urban gardening group, reiterating what she'd written in blog comments and on the newspaper's web site.

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Hi Garden Gang,

If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, here is the link for the Tribune article.

http://newsandtribune.com/floydcounty/x915988550/Organizers-say-lead-contamination-won-t-hinder-community-garden-in-New-Albany

I didn't get a chance to speak with Daniel before the article ran. He had tried to contact me, I had tried to call him back. It didn't work out.

The lead content is at a level of est. 393 ppm. Not safe for pregnant women and children range is from 300-999.

From UMASS EXT office~

*If estimated lead totals are above 300 ppm, young children and pregnant women should avoid contact with the soil. Estimated levels of lead above 2000 ppm are considered a concern for all users and may represent a hazardous waste station.

So it's at a level safe for adults, just not expecting adults or children where brain development is still in the works.

Jerry and I have been working together and documents will be provided regarding the procedures used to make this site completely family friendly. I believe that we will see positive results. I will be returning to work at this site when it has been made safe for children.

Greg Sekula plans to use the Emery's building painting as an education tool for the public. He plans on teaching ways of testing for lead and how to remove toxic paint safely once it has been found.

We are still looking at other garden sites in conjunction with this site. If you have any other questions, fire away. There are bumps with all projects and this is one is no exception.

We would love even more community involvement with this project!

If you have questions for Jerry or Greg their addresses are

jfinn@horseshoefoundation.org
GSekula@indianalandmarks.org

Thank you for your support!

Urban Fusion and 707 Culbertson: Curiouser and curiouser.

(8:40 p.m. update: Michele Finn has provided clarification in two comments -- thanks for taking the time)

You may have read Urban Fusion lynchpin Michele Finn's words to her peeps, as reprinted here a week ago:

Urban Fusion update: Soil remediation necessary at 707 Culbertson.

 ... Some have stated that we can make 707 Culbertson Ave safe quickly. I personally will not accept a quick fix. According to the University of Massachusetts Lab levels of over 300 ppm are not safe for children or pregnant women. They would be at risk for lead poisoning. The current level is 393 ppm. My children will be with me all summer and we have gardener(s) that are expecting. Even if we made the back of the lot safe, the dirt mounds around the Emery's building and the lead paint on the building itself would contaminate our clean soil. Not to mention, where would the money come from to do so? Where would the money and efforts come from to fix the Emery's building? We have lost this season's planting window already. It's time keep looking.

Previously, NABC had donated to the community garden, and Michele phoned me over the weekend, reiterating that because the 707 Culbertson site was now off the table, I had the option to withdraw the contribution ... which I'd been told would be routed to her on behalf of Urban Fusion through Keep New Albany Clean and Green -- not that Clean and Green was running the Urban Fusion show.

Yesterday I asked her to send back the money, and I will redirect it to whatever project Michele comes up with. The point in all this? From the start, Urban Fusion seemed to be Michele's baby. Meanwhile, Daniel Suddeath's newspaper report today makes no mention of Michele at all.

So, who's the organizer, anyway -- and who's in charge?

Organizers say lead contamination won’t hinder community garden in New Albany; Levels were only slightly above trigger level, officials say

NEW ALBANY — Organizers said Wednesday they will proceed with a community garden despite lead contamination being discovered on the Culbertson Avenue site.

The amount of lead found in the soil at 707 Culbertson Ave. is only slightly more than what is considered an acceptable level and measures have already been taken to guard against exposure, Keep New Albany Clean and Green Vice President Jerry Finn said.

The organization is heading the effort to open the Urban Fusion Community Garden at the site, and recently the historic Emery’s Ice Cream Shop building was moved to the property to serve as a planting and canning education center.

Urban Fusion update: Soil remediation necessary at 707 Culbertson.

(Submitted by Michele Finn. Let's hope there is a solution at hand)

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Agenda we covered for May 9th Meeting

Opening garden update.

Accomplishments since our last February meeting are as follows.

We have located a garden site which Indiana Landmarks has provided.

We pursued our own 501c and were offered services by Brandon Smith of Faith Ingle Smith.

During that time Keep New Albany Clean and Green offered for us to work under their status and will help us with insurance for the first year. This will save us close to $900, which is the approximate cost of the non profit status and also will help with the need of insurance.

Christina Pfau has provided us with a wonderful garden rendition.

Nathan Fessel has provided us with two great logo choices.

We have priced cedar raised beds already made at a cost of around $170 and decided we could probably save a lot of money building them ourselves. We have contacted New Albany's PC Lumber and they are offering us lumber at cost!

Dan Cristiani from Earth First donated a tri axel of rich top soil for the back of the garden site.

Jerry Finn & Mark Seabrook donated equipment to be used and Irv Stumler leveled the garden area.

Mark Seabrook, Kevin Zurschmiede & Irv Stumler worked to take down black walnut tree that was covering the back of the lot. Black walnuts are very toxic to almost all plants and the tree was damaged.

Eco Tech provided the dumpster for the tree removal.

The Emery's building has been moved to the site.

We received the test results from the soil samples. It took five weeks to get them back.

Because of the results, elevated levels of lead in the soil, we will have to remediate the site to make it safe for everyone. We are not experts in this dept. Precautions such as fabric barriers, raised beds, heavy mulch can be applied.

What should we do?

All of this work has been done with in kind donations.

We can use our best efforts to make it safe but the Emery's building will have to be scraped following a proper procedure and painted with lead incapsulating paint before we can move forward with making the site safe.

We must take a pause and see if we can make a summer or fall garden.

* Since the meeting several of you have emailed or called me all with the same thought. As one of you put it, we have put all of our eggs in one basket. I've also had some of you call and tell me we need a garden at a safer location. I'll be honest, this site is the only one that was offered in the midtown/downtown area. The only other proposed location is at Northside Christian Church. I haven't spoken to them recently but I hope their garden operation if going smoothly! The original idea was for an urban garden to set an example in the city and have it accessible by walking or bike riding. All garden members are welcome to search for another garden site so that the Urban Fusion Community Garden can start planting as soon as possible.

Some have stated that we can make 707 Culbertson Ave safe quickly. I personally will not accept a quick fix. According to the University of Massachusetts Lab levels of over 300 ppm are not safe for children or pregnant women. They would be at risk for lead poisoning. The current level is 393 ppm. My children will be with me all summer and we have gardener(s) that are expecting. Even if we made the back of the lot safe, the dirt mounds around the Emery's building and the lead paint on the building itself would contaminate our clean soil. Not to mention, where would the money come from to do so? Where would the money and efforts come from to fix the Emery's building? We have lost this season's planting window already. It's time keep looking.

The turn around time for soil test results is two weeks. If you know of a sight that might work, go ahead and take a sample. I'll attach a link on how to do so.

Click on Routine for Home Gardens

Keep your thumbs green! We have come very far since November and we will make Community Gardens a reality in New Albany!

Michele Finn, UFCG