CBRN event in United States of America on Wed 5th August 2026

EASTLAKE, Ohio (WOIO) - In June, a child was rushed and admitted to the intensive care unit after coming in contact with water at a splash pad in an Eastlake park, according to court records. Samantha Kent and Dave Rose, parents of the 4-year-old child, filed a complaint, captioned Kent v. City of Eastlake, Ohio, Case No. 26CV001170 against the city of Eastlake after finding out Surfside Park’s splash pad held excessive amounts of chlorine. In the complaint, the Lake County General Health District reinspected the splash pad June 2 after having issues sanitizing the water when the park opened this year, two days before the boy’s visit. What the inspection records show According to the complaint and Lake County General Health District inspection records cited in it, a health district inspection on May 29, 2026, found the facility did not have disinfectant on the premises and water chemistry could not be tested. Inspectors directed the facility to obtain disinfectant before opening. A reinspection on June 2, 2026, measured free and total chlorine at 21.04 parts per million, along with a pH of 8.2 — above the required range of 7.2 to 7.8 — and total alkalinity of 0 ppm, below the required minimum of 60 ppm. The alkalinity failure was noted as a repeat violation. The CDC lists the minimum available chlorine for splash park operations at 1 ppm. The most recent Model Aquatic Health Code states that chlorine levels above 10 ppm constitute an “imminent health hazard.” The June 2 reading of 21.04 ppm was more than double that threshold. “When it’s above 10 parts per million, there’s an imminent health hazard,” said Jedidiah Bressman of Bressman Law, counsel for the family. “But when testing was performed by the Lake County Health Department that’s attached as exhibited A to the complaint, it came back at 21.04. So, double what the CDC would say is going to be an imminent health hazard.” Child’s visit and hospitalization From court records, the child was playing at the splash park with the family June 4, where he was exposed to the dangerous water. In the early hours of June 8, 2026, he began vomiting blood and passing blood. He was transported by ambulance to Hillcrest Hospital and admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit with a falling hemoglobin level and active internal bleeding. He was transferred to Cleveland Clinic’s main campus for further imaging, an endoscopy, and a second transfusion, and was discharged June 10, 2026. His treating physicians diagnosed an upper gastrointestinal bleed, ingestion of a caustic substance, gastritis, and anemia from acute blood loss. His pediatric gastroenterologist attributed the bleeding and gastritis to chlorine exposure, according to the complaint. Providers also advised his parents he had been bleeding internally for days before the acute episode. Fire department responded on back-to-back days On June 5 and June 6, the local fire department responded on consecutive days to treat other children and families for chlorine exposure and fumes at the splash pad. Bressman said Ohio Administrative Code requires consistent chemical monitoring at facilities like the splash pad. “There’s something that was going wrong that wasn’t being taken care of, and there were policies and procedures in place by the Ohio Administrative Code that says you need to be doing consistent checking. So, what we’re what we’re anticipating on finding is that if they were doing that, that consistent testing, they were also finding out that they knew about this as it was going on,” Bressman said. Legal claims and what the family is seeking On June 17, Lake County General Health District returned to investigate Surfside Park after receiving complaints concerning the child’s admission to the hospital. “You’ve got toddlers, you’ve got kids who are going to do what kids are going to do. They’re going to drink the water, they’re going to be exposed to it and that’s exactly why we have these rules, is to protect the children that are attending these places, and it became so bad that Eastlake shut it down at one point.” Bressman said. According to the inspection report, the Lake County General Health District found the pH at 8.0, still outside of the 7.2 to 7.8 range. The lawsuit claims the boy’s mother contacted the city’s service department to determine how much chlorine her son had been exposed to but received no response. Bressman said he anticipates the city will argue it is immune from liability under state statute. “We expect the city to raise that as a defense, that they are immune from liability, and actually to owe the parents nothing for what they’ve gone through because they are immune under the statute,” Bressman said. Bressman also raised the possibility that city officials were aware of the elevated chlorine readings but chose not to close the facility. “If they knew that the testing had occurred and they knew that these results were high and were just riding it out because they didn’t want to close it back down right after they had opened it, you put children in your community at risk,” Bressman said. Since being admitted and discharged from Cleveland Clinic hospital, the child has improved but is still undergoing medical treatment to ensure no recurrent bleeding or worsening conditions. Holding the City Accountable According to Bressman, while the family faces mounting medical expenses from B.R.’s emergency room visit and intensive care stay, their primary motivation for filing the lawsuit is protecting other children in the community. Bressman says the boy’s mother, Samantha Kent, wants to make sure no other parent has to witness what she did. “The biggest thing that she mentioned was, ‘I just don’t want this to happen to other families,’” Bressman said. “This shouldn’t have happened to me in the first place, and this shouldn’t happen to other people.” Bressman added that the civil court system is currently the family’s only option to force safety changes at the park. “Obviously there are medical expenses with two nights in the hospital and the continued suffering that their child and their family is having to go through. But the bigger part that she’s really mentioned is that this is their community,” Bressman said. “If the city isn’t going to take care of its citizens by making sure their public areas are safe, this is the only way you can really do that is by holding them accountable.” 19 news put out request for an interview with the mayor’s office about the lawsuit but are still waiting to hear back.