3M proposes park at former Brookhaven Middle

It’s a plan that has some neighbors concerned about ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals in the soil and groundwater that led to 3M buying the property, but they are ready for the school building to be demolished.

A 3M contractor, GHD, last month submitted to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) a plan for the proposed demolition of the school building, along with a post-demolition interim use plan. GHD said in its report that the level of contaminants in the soil was below the levels deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency to be hazardous.

A spokesman for 3M said the plans for the property will benefit the community.

“3M continues to evaluate the 15-acre former Brookhaven Middle School site with the goal of redeveloping the campus as an asset for the neighborhood and a contribution to the quality of life for the city of Decatur,” according to the 3M statement. “We look forward to sharing the next phase of the process and the role the community will play in the development in the next several weeks.”

In its filing with ADEM last month, 3M said the long-term development of the 40-acre tract that's home to both Brookhaven and the adjacent Aquadome Recreation Center is being evaluated, but the proposed interim use of the 15-acre Brookhaven property is to maintain it as a “green space which may be utilized by the community,” with the southern portion of the property graded to “allow potential development of an additional sports field.”

“Once grass cover is established, the site may incorporate picnic areas, walking trails and sports fields,” according to the proposal.

Most concrete would be removed, but the parking lot on the south side of the property would be repaired to provide parking spaces for the park.

Both Brookhaven and the Aquadome sit on a closed municipal and industrial landfill that received waste from the 1940s until the early 1960s and was closed in 1964. 3M opened its Decatur plant in 1961, and some of its waste was put in the landfill. The old landfill is between Eighth Street Southwest on the north, an alley behind Beard Street on the south, Fifth Avenue on the west and Second Avenue on the east.

'Forever chemicals'

3M waste had high levels of perfluoroalkyl substances, referred to as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” and a 2020 study by 3M found PFAS in the soil, groundwater and surface water on both the Aquadome and Brookhaven properties.

Decatur City Schools closed Brookhaven in 2018, and concerns about contamination led the city to end Decatur Youth Services’ use of the building in 2019.

Also in 2019, Decatur City Schools gave notice of its intent to sue 3M over the contaminants. In 2020, 3M settled the claim by purchasing the Brookhaven property for $1.25 million.

According to the EPA, scientific studies have shown that exposure to two of the chemicals found at Brookhaven and the Aquadome may lead to decreased fertility; increased high blood pressure in pregnant women; developmental effects or delays in children, including low birth weight, accelerated puberty or behavioral changes; increased risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers; compromised immune systems and reduced vaccine response; hormonal imbalances; and increased cholesterol levels.

Studies have generally focused on ingestion of the chemicals through drinking water, so less is known about any harmful effects resulting from skin contact with contaminated soil or inhaling contaminated air.

That uncertainty, combined with the fact that the EPA in June dramatically reduced the levels of PFAS exposure that it considers safe, has Keith Turner concerned. He lives across the street from Brookhaven.

“We’ve been left in the dark. If the chemicals are that bad on one side of the street, shouldn’t we at least have our side tested too? There’s a lot of unanswered questions,” he said. “All the homeowners around here want to know what’s under there. Even if it didn’t make it to my house, those chemicals surely made it to someone’s property.”

'Lipstick on a pig'

Those same concerns impact his view of locating a park on the Brookhaven property.

“It’s like putting lipstick on a pig. You’re going to fix it up and make it look good, but what’s underneath? We may get a nice park, but what’s under there?” Turner said. “That’s a temporary fix until you tell us what is considered high and what is considered low (contamination) levels. Nobody knows exactly what’s in there, what’s dangerous. All we know is it’s bad chemicals.”

Brookhaven is in Councilman Billy Jackson’s District 1, and he said he’s had numerous constituents contact him both about the dilapidated condition of the building and their concerns about whether the contaminants have migrated through groundwater or surface water to their properties.

Jackson said he’s concerned that EPA is now saying the chemicals are far more toxic than the agency reported before June, which makes him skeptical at the wisdom of placing a park on the property.

“Even if studies now say it’s safe, who’s to say in the future they won’t come back with something different?” he said.

Jackson wants to know more about the toxicity of PFAS in a park environment, and he wants the information to come from a source other than 3M.

“These are forever chemicals. We need to take a closer look and make sure it’s safe. I don’t know that a park is the right solution, but I don’t know if there is a right solution," he said. "The damage has been done to our community. I don’t know that the community is fully compensated just by putting a park there that might cause problems in the future.”

In a $98.4 million settlement with the city of Decatur, Morgan County and Decatur Utilities last year, 3M agreed to take title to the 25-acre Aquadome property and pay the city $35 million for a new recreation center. The City Council has approved Wilson Morgan Park as the location for the new facility. The city will maintain ownership of the Aquadome property until the new rec center opens.

While the 2020 study found PFAS in the soil, the 3M contractor said it was below EPA residential property screening levels, which are more stringent than screening levels for parks and sports fields.

Whatever happens to the Brookhaven property, Jackson wants it to happen soon.

“We need a solution,” he said. “3M should be moving on this thing. Whatever they’re going to do with the building, they need to start moving forward. It’s causing problems in our community now.”