The proposed site for MLS expansion club Inter Miami CF's stadium and mall is "far more toxic than previously expected, with arsenic contamination levels reaching more than twice the legal limit and surface-level soil samples containing debris that poses a 'physical hazard,'" according to a front-page piece by Joey Flechas of the MIAMI HERALD. The "severity of the pollution underneath the grass" at Melreese Country Club is a "significant factor that could alter Inter Miami’s future on the 131-acre site." Nearly the entire site is "sullied by ash from an old municipal incinerator that was shut down decades ago." Soil testing found contamination levels at "twice the allowable limit for arsenic." Barium and lead levels also "exceeded legal limits." It "wasn’t immediately clear whether the cost of fixing the problem would make the plans for a stadium and commercial complex unfeasible." Inter Miami officials have in the past estimated the cleanup would cost in the range of $35M, a number "repeatedly offered" by the team’s Managing Owner Jorge Mas. Last night, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said that team officials have "more recently estimated the cost could reach" $50M (MIAMI HERALD, 8/20).
