Show Low - Building the new library in the city has been halted at least temporarily, due to an unexpected bit of soil contamination at the site.
According to the Director of Community Services Joel weeks, construction crews encountered the problem in two or three weeks when they dug through the existing library at 20 N. Sixth St.
Weeks said that two houses and the White Mountain Passenger Lines above is found on the site along with an underground storage of petrol bombs used by the line of passengers. Before the city bought the property, received Department of Environmental Quality of the documentation indicating that the site has been cleaned adequately, but apparently was not the case.
"When we arrived at the excavation, there was a smell of petrol, and we did some tests and determined that the site actually had not been cleaned properly," said weeks.
He said that "serious investigations" had been scheduled to start on Wednesday or Thursday to definitively assess the situation.
"We are quite sure that the waste of gasoline, benzine, but is nothing more than some petrol never cleaned off the site," he said.
In terms of evaluation, Weeks said Columbia Analytical Services, a contractor who specializes in the type of cleanup required at the scene, along with the core system of the building (the company building the new library), gave a characterization "page to see how much contamination of soil and how much must be removed to meet the requirements of the law, but the test results not yet available.
Weeks, said the city is doing its best to take care of the situation, but that probably will not have further details until sometime next week.
"We're not trying to hide anything," said weeks. "It is quite obvious that there is a problem and has nothing to do with a gas line. It's just enough that we have determined (the previous owners) did not clean the underground storage tank, as they said they had."
He added that the city is returning to ADEQ to see if any of HUD Brownfields Economic Development grant money available that could be used to offset any cost to the city but not speculate about what, if any, that the cost might be.
Weeks said that the community will be updated as soon as more definitive information.
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