Australian playground gets all-clear after suspected soil pollution

After being closed off twenty months ago, children in Victoria have been allowed to once again play on land that was feared to be contaminated.

Ground outside the Warrnambool City Council's services centre has now been given the all-clear after tar and coal was detected in the soil in February of last year, reported warrnambool.yourguide.com.au.

Authorities are still stumped as to the circumstances, but Kim Sweetnam, media manager of the council has no declared that land outside the centre, which is currently undergoing a revamp, is safe.

"There were very few minor hot spots and the soil has since been removed. It now meets the environmental Protection Authority's guidelines," she added.

Contamination held up the regeneration by six to eight weeks, claimed the building projects officer John Loomes.

Warrnambool is located in "the heart of the rugged Great Ocean Road region" and is home to beaches, parks and gardens, seaside stretches and volcanoes, according to warrnamboolinfo.com.