Officials: Toxic waste found in soil at some Fairfield school fields

Officials in the Town of Fairfield learned Tuesday that toxic waste may have been used as fill in the soil at some school fields.

News 12 Staff

Aug 21, 2019, 9:48 PM

Updated 1,877 days ago

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Officials in the Town of Fairfield learned Tuesday that toxic waste may have been used as fill in the soil at some school fields.
First Selectman Mike Tetreau says environmental tests along the sidewalks of Gould Manor Park show levels of arsenic, lead and asbestos. The town says the fill was taken from a site at a Fairfield Public Works facility.
The town hired Julian Enterprises to bring in clean fill. But over several years, toxic waste was being dumped there.
"That should not have been done to our town,” says Tetreau. “I'm royally upset about that and I can't believe that anybody would do that to our town and we're going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."
Two town employees were arrested – Scott Bartlett, the town's superintendent of public works, and Joe Michelangelo, the public works director.
Tetreau says Bartlett has been fired and Michelangelo is on administrative leave. The town says the sidewalk at Gould Manor will remain open.
The town has been working with the state Department of Health and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and hired an environmental company. The Fairfield Health Department says testing will continue for the next month.
Superintendent of Fairfield Public Schools Mike Cummings says there are many questions that still need to be answered.
“Our primary objective every day is student safety,” he says.
News 12 reached out to Stratford attorney Thomas Cotter, who is representing Julian Enterprises. He has yet to issue a statement.
Two public meetings are set for the issue. The first was Wednesday night at Fairfield Ludlowe High School. The next is Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Fairfield Woods Middle School.