A public forest is home to dozens of barrels that have been leaking toxic materials for decades.
Parks officials in Louisville, Kentucky are taking the first steps to clean up a hazardous waste site in a public park locally known as ‘Gully of the Drums,’ reports James Bruggers in Inside Climate News. The city released a plan to take soil samples and dig trenches to assess the condition of the site.
As Bruggers explains, “The site sits about 700 feet from the notorious ‘Valley of the Drums,’ where some 17,000 hazardous waste drums were discovered in the late 1970s on farmland 17 miles south of downtown Louisville, which were removed in one of the first major federal Superfund cleanups in the United States.”
While the Valley was cleaned up by the EPA, the Gully site remained contaminated with 40 to 45 barrels of toxic waste. “The new study, if approved by the Louisville Metro Council, will involve taking soil samples near the visible drums as well as digging trenches to see whether unseen barrels or containers of toxic waste were also buried, and then testing the soil to see if that area has hazardous waste.”
Lauren Heberle, a professor at the University of Louisville, says the plan could do more to address contaminants like PFAS that were not tested for before, and should also test groundwater and a nearby creek.
FULL STORY: Louisville, Kentucky, Moves Toward Cleaning Up Its ‘Gully of the Drums’ After More Than Four Decades
‘Ground-Breaking’ Settlement Reached in Detroit Environmental Justice Case
Civil rights activists celebrate a legal settlement that will require the state of Michigan to prevent hazardous waste and other industrial facilities from disproportionately polluting lower income and predominantly Black and brown communities.
Louisville Creates its First Municipal DOT
The new department will be tasked with speeding up transportation and infrastructure projects.
Revitalizing Toxic Sites Using Fungi and Plants
Fungi and plants are being used to detoxify polluted sites, turning hazardous brownfields into vibrant meadows and empowering communities with eco-friendly remediation skills.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research