A contaminated park on Galway city's seafront may be "capped" with thousands of tonnes of top soil as a public health measure.
A preliminary risk assessment of South Park, also known as the "swamp", on the Claddagh recommends covering parts of the 12-hectare area with about half a metre of soil.
City councillors have been informed that levels of arsenic and copper are not as high as originally estimated, but lead contamination in the northern end of the area will have to be treated before sports clubs and schools can use pitches there again.
South Park was closed in December as a precautionary measure after it emerged that an NUI Galway researcher had uncovered high levels of heavy metals. The local authority was criticised by several of its own councillors when it was confirmed that it had been given the information some months previously. The park, on reclaimed land, had originally been used as a landfill up to the 1950s.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) West advised the public not to collect or eat shellfish from the Claddagh area as a precautionary measure, while independent analyses were taking place. Schools and sports clubs using pitches were advised to find alternatives, but public walkways across the park have not been closed.
City councillors were presented with the findings of the preliminary risk assessment by Tobin consulting engineers this week, and a final report is expected by the end of this month according to Kevin Swift, senior engineer with Galway City Council.
No decision on remedial measures will be taken until this final report is presented to councillors, but it is anticipated that it will also recommend capping the affected areas, he said.