Grand Traverse County officials have closed Kids Kove playground at the Civic Center indefinitely after discovering elevated arsenic levels in the property soil. Director of County Parks and Recreation Kristine Erickson says the closing was made to "protect the safety of our children" as the county works with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and county health department to "coordinate further testing and analysis to determine the extent of the problem."

Test results indicate 19.9 parts per million of arsenic are present in the soil. Officials have not yet determined whether the arsenic was naturally occurring in the soil or came from the playground itself. Pressure-treated wood used in the construction of many 1990s wooden playgrounds was often treated with chromated copper arsenate, an inorganic compound which is now banned because of the threat it poses of arsenic leakage.

Erickson says the playground will remain closed "until further notice." DEQ officials are working on additional soil sampling, as well as potential options for remediation.