TAYLORVILLE – Above is an aerial view of Manners Park. Baseball Field A, located behind the Manners Park Dining Hall, was closed after the Taylorville Park District received test results for lead from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to the Taylorville Park District’s Facebook post, the lead is contained to a small area in the outfield of Baseball Field A. The Taylorville Park District plans to undertake remediation efforts.
Screenshot from Google Maps

Elisabeth Holz
Breeze Courier Writer

TAYLORVILLE – The “A” baseball field, also known as the A-League field, at Manners Park has been closed after the Taylorville Park District received lead test results from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to Marline Miller, chair of the Park Board, the lead is limited to a small area in the outfield of baseball field “A,” the baseball field behind the cafeteria, and there is reportedly no health risk.

“They told us it was higher than normal, but it’s not that high unless you go out, stick your face in it and eat the dirt,” Miller said.
Miller added that the Illinois EPA has stated that the rest of the park is fine and that there is no further cause for concern other than an outfield area on baseball’s “A” field.

For this reason, the rest of the park will remain open, but Baseball Field “A” will be closed until further notice.

“The remaining tests were within guidelines and consistent with Geo Technology,” Miller said.

A total of 12 samples were collected from the park. The Illinois EPA tested Manners Park in May and the Taylorville Park District received the results on August 15.

Community members who wish to view the Illinois EPA’s findings for Manners Park may view them at the Manners Park office during regular business hours or submit a FOIA request through the Illinois EPA website. Moving forward, the Taylorville Park District plans to begin remediation efforts as soon as possible.

Miller said the park district has already contacted Andrews Engineering, an Illinois EPA-approved company based in Springfield.

Miller said the Taylorville Park District registered with the Illinois EPA and paid the $2,500 filing fee for the remediation process.

“We want to make sure we do our due diligence,” Miller said.

At the time of publication, it is not known when the renovation work will begin or how long it will take.

The Illinois EPA stated in its test results that it tested Manners Park because members of the park board and community were concerned that contamination from the Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) site across the street might have affected the park property.

The concerns and testing were requested in February 2024 during a meeting with Brenda Kimble, County Board members Bryan Sharp and Ray Koonce, Illinois Senator Steve McClure and Illinois State Representative Brad Halbrook, Dr. Chad Anderson of the Christian County Health Department, Charlie Smith of the Trevor’s Trek Foundation, Professor Mark Witton of Arizona University, and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) representatives Sarah Brubaker, Brad Frost, Paul Lake and two other IEPA representatives on the Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP).

Miller said Geo Technology did not test for metals because they occur naturally in the soil and their focus was on testing for potentially hazardous chemicals from the MGP site. Geo Technology’s testing found the park to be compliant with EPA guidelines.

“Our geologists didn’t test for metals because they’re naturally occurring in the soil. These are all things that are naturally occurring in the soil, and they said the only reason they did it was because they felt pressured by Brenda and her group (My Community My Family),” Miller said.