EPA Says Zonolite Park Free of Asbestos

By Sally Sears

The latest tests of Zonolite Park show no traces of contaminated dirt where neighbors want public trails along the creek, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week.

With weekend rains in mind, I pulled on my new mud boots to see for myself what this special site looks like now.

I cannot quite believe it yet. The yellow warning tape is gone, the orange stay-away silt fence is gone, too.

In place of the $2 million remediation zone is a sloped field and a bog garden full of water and wiggling tadpoles.  

The flood plain that used to gush storm water held small pools slowly sinking into the dirt. The sun was so bright in my eyes. I took lots of pictures, enough to convince myself this long story of fixing Zonolite may be almost over.

Some people have grown old thinking Zonolite would never be clean. For them, the test results from the EPA are the best evidence of all that five or six decades of stories about asbestos pollution at Zonolite are over.

Neighbors who live and work near Briarcliff Road, Johnson Road and Lenox started this latest push 4 years ago.

The idea was to get DeKalb County to allow good walking trails along the South Fork of Peachtree Creek and invite the public into this public land. Then master gardeners and flower lovers joined to support using this sunny area for a community garden.

The Environmental Protection Agency came up with new tests to measure whether asbestos might be a problem if the dirt was stirred by gardening.

At first, it seemed like every meeting held a reason to delay.  But a bankruptcy judge finally said yes to using money from the bankrupt company which last owned the land to clean it up.

On Halloween 2011, the digging began. Nobody thought it would take until March 2012.

Now the land needs support from neighbors to build trails and gardens.

The South Fork Conservancy, businesses in the Zonolite and hike and garden-loving neighbors want to get everyone’s ideas about the future of this important park.  

The park advocacy group Park Pride is coordinating four public meetings this spring for broad outreach. Please try to make one, or all four.

Visioning Meeting

April 10, 6 - 8PM

Haygood United Methodist Church

1015 E. Rock Springs Rd. NE

Design Workshop

May 8, 6 - 8PM

Haygood United Methodist Church

1015 E. Rock Springs Rd. NE

Preliminary Design Review

June 5, 6 - 8PM

1893 Piedmont Rd (white bldg. with arches @

corner of Cheshire Bridge and Piedmont Rd.)

Final Design Review and Prioritization

July 10, 6 - 8PM

Haygood United Methodist Church

Sally Sears is the Executive Director of South Fork Conservancy, a nonprofit that aims to restore and maintain urban creeks and trails. Visit the South Fork Conservancy website and Facebook Page for more about the group.