New fencing is being installed at five Durham parks as North Carolina officials continue to test parks across the state for lead.

On Thursday, the state Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) began installing fencing around playgrounds in the five Durham parks where lead and other contaminants have been found in the soil.

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The NCDEQ will be analyzing the soil under the playgrounds for lead and contaminants.

Fences will be installed over the next five days on the following dates:

  • East Durham Park – July 18
    • East End Park – July 19
      • Lyon Park – July 22
        • Walltown Park – July 22
          • Northgate Park – July 23

            Parts of those parks have already been fenced off for months. According to the state, it's especially important to keep people out of these areas because the NCDEQ is removing protective liners in order to test the soil.

            The city said playgrounds with liners and 12 inches of mulch were not originally tested. Although these playgrounds have been closed since April, additional fencing will help keep people out of the playground areas while the soil is being tested.

            "Northgate, Walltown, and East Durham Parks will require the most additional fencing," the city said on its website in April.

            When testing concludes and analysis is complete, the city said it will work with the community on a plan for safely reopening the playgrounds.

            The issue is not just in Durham. Zebulon found lead in its Gill Street Park in April, and more recently, Chapel Hill found elevated levels of lead, cadmium, and petroleum in the soil at their Community Center Park on the northeast corner. Both towns had plans to build playgrounds when they found the lead, and officials are still working on solutions.

            A preliminary cost estimate from the NCDEQ for all five Durham parks shows one option -- covering problem areas with clean soil -- could come with a price tag of $10.4 million.

            Dan Richter, a professor at Duke University, said testing should be proactive in more municipalities.

            "We have instruments -- portable instruments -- just like a microphone that'll allow us in short order to do screening of soils all across environments," he said.

            Richter explained many parks are built on former incinerator sites or were created with ash infill. He believes that less-costly remediation options could be considered as long as the soil is tested.

            "My students in my soils lab like to say soils have long memories, whether it's a farmer's field or city soil in your backyard," Richter said.

            Zebulon is collecting public input on what to do with its park, and Chapel Hill is also working out how to move forward.

            Durham's five parks were accepted into the state's pre-regulatory landfill program, meaning state funding could help with a solution.