{"id":1017658,"date":"2026-08-22T19:42:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1017658\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T19:42:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:42:35","slug":"elevated-levels-of-mercury-arsenic-found-in-dog-run-at-herbert-von-king-park-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1017658\/","title":{"rendered":"Elevated levels of mercury, arsenic found in dog run at Herbert Von King Park \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dog run at Herbert Von King Park is closed seemingly indefinitely after elevated levels of arsenic and mercury were discovered in the soil.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Soil testing found the chemicals in \u201cmoderate exceedances\u201d of state residential soil standards<\/a> at surface level, according to a parks department spokesperson, with \u201cmore significant\u201d contamination discovered three to six inches deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The department did not share the full report or the exact levels discovered. It had initially said the dog run was closed \u201cdue to the potential presence of contamination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the findings, the city\u2019s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recommended parks \u201cblock off the affected areas,\u201d a DOHMH spokesperson said. Other sections of the park do not present a risk of exposure, officials said, and remain open as normal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"signSigns informed patrons that the dog run is closed for soil remediation. Photo by Kirstyn Brendlen<\/p>\n

The department has not said when the dog run might reopen. The soil testing was conducted as part of a planned full reconstruction<\/a> of the area, with construction set to begin in fall 2027.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the agency is allowing off-leash hours at Herbert Von King Park before 9 a.m. and after 9 p.m. But dog owners were frustrated by the long closure and by a lack of communication from the parks department.<\/p>\n

Sophie Torri and her corgi, Shamis, moved to the area earlier this summer. The fenced-in dog run was a \u201cselling point\u201d for the neighborhood, she said, since it lets Shamis run, play fetch and meet other dogs in a contained space without kids or other dangers. They visited at least once a day until it closed abruptly last week.<\/p>\n

Signs posted on the fence say the dog run is closed \u201cfor soil remediation,\u201d and thanks patrons for their patience \u201cas we improve your park.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Torri figured the closure would be temporary, and that she and Shamis would visit every day until it reopened.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Beyond the signs hung in the park, Torri said she hadn\u2019t seen any updates or information from the city, and learned about the details of the closure from a Brooklyn Paper<\/a> reporter while she walked with Shamis on Aug. 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She worried that Shamis could have ingested the contaminated soil while playing.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of mud \u2026 there was no grass, so it was mostly just muddy bark,\u201d she said. \u201cThey would end up rolling in it, and he likes to play with a ball, and I know he\u2019s gotten it all up in his mouth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"herbertOne dog owner said the run was often muddy, and worried her dog had ingested the soil. Photo by Kirstyn Brendlen<\/p>\n

George Lozefski, Soils Technician & Education Coordinator at the New York City Soil & Water Conservation District<\/a> and Director of Education at The Urban Soils Institute<\/a>, said both arsenic and mercury can occur naturally in the soil, though usually at low levels. Higher concentrations are typically a result of human activity like manufacturing, trash incineration, even use of cars and vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arsenic is used in \u201ca thousand different chemicals,\u201d he said, including on treated wood, and is \u201cone of the most common things we find,\u201d in New York City soils, along with lead. Mercury isn\u2019t found as often.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at Herbert Von King Park, you need to look at what the park land use history is \u2026 what was there before the park? What were they doing in the park since it was built?\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What was then the City of Brooklyn acquired the land<\/a> by condemnation in 1857 and famous designers Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmstead submitted their plans for the park\u2014 originally called Tompkins Park \u2014 in 1871. Before that, the land was part of a large estate <\/a>owned by Tunis Johnson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, arsenic is commonly found in pesticides. It\u2019s commonly found in rodenticides, which are widely used in parks. Even mercury was also,\u201d Lozefski said. \u201cEven if they were used five, 10 or 20 years ago, they\u2019re legacy contaminants. They\u2019re still going to be here, because unfortunately, they\u2019re naturally occurring. They don\u2019t evaporate \u2026 for the most part, these metals will stay in the soil forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

With regular exposure, both chemicals can cause health issues. Mercury can damage<\/a> the nervous system, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract, according to the EPA, and arsenic<\/a> has been linked to several cancers as well as neurological damage and cardiovascular disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"dogDog owners are making use of other lawns in the park. Photo by Kirstyn Brendlen<\/p>\n

Lozefski said the \u201celevated\u201d levels found in the dog run were likely not high enough to present a serious health risk, especially for adults \u2014 though the exact results have not been shared. The state\u2019s residential soil standard<\/a> for arsenic is 16 parts per million; for mercury, it\u2019s .030 parts per million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At those levels, \u201cyou have to be exposed for it for hours and hours,\u201d to receive a harmful dose, Lozefski said, and primary exposure pathways are through inhalation, ingestion or skin contact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dose and the duration of exposure makes the poison,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Dogs, though, are \u201cdoing exactly what we don\u2019t want people to do in contaminated soil,\u201d as they play and dig. Toxicity \u201cprobably isn\u2019t an issue,\u201d even for canines, he said, but it\u2019s still best to reduce exposure.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, there\u2019s no other way to do that, aside from avoid going to the park,\u201d he said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

In a situation like this, Lozefski said the remediation could include a cap of at least 6-12 inches of clean soil on top of the contaminated dirt \u2014 deep enough to keep a digging dog from reaching the contaminants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could put geotextiles, you could put gravels and then you could put soil and you could grow grass and you\u2019d have a nice thick barrier to mitigate,\u201d he said. Grass and other plants, while not as common in dog runs, help reduce the bioavailability of toxins by binding them to the soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dog owners face long closure<\/b><\/p>\n

The exact plans for remediation are not yet clear. Plans for the full reconstruction show that \u201ccanine turf\u201d with drainage would be installed throughout the dog run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked whether the dog run would be closed until that project is finished or would be remediated separately, a spokesperson said they \u201cexpect to complete the full remediation through the planned capital project.\u201d The design of the capital project has been delayed at least a year, per the Capital Projects Tracker, and construction \u2014 once it begins \u2014 is expected to take 12-18 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jose Garcia, who was playing with his dog Sunny off-leash on one of the park\u2019s lawns, said they typically visit the dog run about three times a week. Often, he brings other dogs with him, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"dogPlans for the full reconstruction of the dog run include \u201ccanine turf.\u201d Image courtesy NYC Parks<\/p>\n

Garcia found out the dog run was closed on Aug. 18 when he arrived and saw the signs, and had heard it needed repairs, but was not aware remediation was needed because of contaminated soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy [didn\u2019t they] say that?\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Sunny needs a lot of exercise, he said, and so far has been having fun in the park outside the dog run.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I don\u2019t want to come here with him,\u201d Garcia said, adding that he feels he would still avoid the dog run after remediation is finished.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI come here with a lot of dogs, and now I\u2019m going to say no more to this park. I need to find another park, another safe park,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The dog run at Herbert Von King Park is closed seemingly indefinitely after elevated levels of arsenic and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1017659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,211974,45657,177614,1121,407277,8090,12190,4415,17078,277324,233205,314941,407278,4654,38443,407279,407280,407281,160,405,403,50,2295,5226,5225,5228,5227,7620,20176,110297,232082,407282,67,586,132,5230,407283,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1017658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-arsenic","tag-bed-stuy","tag-bedford-stuyvesant","tag-brooklyn","tag-capital-project","tag-cleanup","tag-closed","tag-closure","tag-contamination","tag-department-of-health-and-mental-hygiene","tag-department-of-parks-and-recreation","tag-dog-park","tag-dog-run","tag-dogs","tag-dohmh","tag-george-lozefski","tag-herbert-von-king-park","tag-jose-garcia","tag-mercury","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-parks-department","tag-reconstruction","tag-remediation","tag-soil-contamination","tag-sophie-torri","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-urban-soils-institute","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1017658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1017659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1017658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1017658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1017658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}