Stop Hiding Toxic Lead Paint at Cornelius Water Park
The Issue
There is a known neurotoxin flaking into the dirt where our children play and our dogs run—and the City of Cornelius is actively trying to hide it.
Right inside Water Park, immediately adjacent to our community's off-leash dog park, sits a massive above-ground water storage reservoir built in 1969. The City’s own official documentation—the 2017–2024 Water Master Plan City of Cornelius—explicitly admits that the exterior paint peeling off this tank contains hazardous levels of lead.
But instead of executing a safe, professional environmental cleanup to protect our neighborhood, the city chose an illusion.
The city has remediated the paint only on the highly visible side of the reservoir facing the main park. Meanwhile, the obscured back sides of the structure have been left to heavily crack, peel, flake, and deteriorate out of plain sight.
Because of this neglect, toxic lead-based paint chips are dropping directly into our park's grass and soil. As weather elements break the paint down, it pulverizes into dust that travels by wind into our children's playground and washes directly into local Washington County waterways via stormwater drains during rain events.
By refusing to completely contain this known hazard on municipal property, the City of Cornelius is operating in active violation of multiple federal environmental statutes, including:
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Leaving a documented lead hazard unmitigated in an area accessible to children.
The Clean Air Act: Allowing toxic lead dust to create unmonitored hazardous air emissions.
The Clean Water Act: Allowing an unpermitted point-source discharge of a heavy metal
pollutant into local storm drainage and public waterways via Clean Water Services infrastructure.
Budget constraints are no excuse for violating federal public health laws and exposing families to dangerous lead dust. We, the undersigned residents of Cornelius and Washington County, demand that the City Council and Public Works Department immediately provide:
Immediate Emergency Containment: Install physical barrier shrouds around the deteriorating sides of the reservoir to stop toxic debris from escaping.
Comprehensive Soil & Dust Testing: Conduct independent testing of the surrounding soil, playground equipment, and dog park to measure current lead migration levels and publish the results publicly.
A Clear, Legally Binding Abatement Timeline: Provide an explicit timeline to safely abate, encapsulate, or repaint this reservoir under strict EPA Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) protocols.
Our community deserves safe recreational spaces, clean parks, and transparent accountability.
Please sign this petition to demand that Cornelius protects its citizens, complies with federal law, and cleans up Water Park now. #fixthetankcornelius
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The Issue
There is a known neurotoxin flaking into the dirt where our children play and our dogs run—and the City of Cornelius is actively trying to hide it.
Right inside Water Park, immediately adjacent to our community's off-leash dog park, sits a massive above-ground water storage reservoir built in 1969. The City’s own official documentation—the 2017–2024 Water Master Plan City of Cornelius—explicitly admits that the exterior paint peeling off this tank contains hazardous levels of lead.
But instead of executing a safe, professional environmental cleanup to protect our neighborhood, the city chose an illusion.
The city has remediated the paint only on the highly visible side of the reservoir facing the main park. Meanwhile, the obscured back sides of the structure have been left to heavily crack, peel, flake, and deteriorate out of plain sight.
Because of this neglect, toxic lead-based paint chips are dropping directly into our park's grass and soil. As weather elements break the paint down, it pulverizes into dust that travels by wind into our children's playground and washes directly into local Washington County waterways via stormwater drains during rain events.
By refusing to completely contain this known hazard on municipal property, the City of Cornelius is operating in active violation of multiple federal environmental statutes, including:
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Leaving a documented lead hazard unmitigated in an area accessible to children.
The Clean Air Act: Allowing toxic lead dust to create unmonitored hazardous air emissions.
The Clean Water Act: Allowing an unpermitted point-source discharge of a heavy metal
pollutant into local storm drainage and public waterways via Clean Water Services infrastructure.
Budget constraints are no excuse for violating federal public health laws and exposing families to dangerous lead dust. We, the undersigned residents of Cornelius and Washington County, demand that the City Council and Public Works Department immediately provide:
Immediate Emergency Containment: Install physical barrier shrouds around the deteriorating sides of the reservoir to stop toxic debris from escaping.
Comprehensive Soil & Dust Testing: Conduct independent testing of the surrounding soil, playground equipment, and dog park to measure current lead migration levels and publish the results publicly.
A Clear, Legally Binding Abatement Timeline: Provide an explicit timeline to safely abate, encapsulate, or repaint this reservoir under strict EPA Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) protocols.
Our community deserves safe recreational spaces, clean parks, and transparent accountability.
Please sign this petition to demand that Cornelius protects its citizens, complies with federal law, and cleans up Water Park now. #fixthetankcornelius
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Petition created on May 20, 2026