(Spirit Lake)– A dispute may be brewing between the city of Spirit Lake and Dickinson county over some dirt that could be contaminated by gasoline.
City crews dug up the dirt as they were installing a new water line along Highways nine and 71 in front of a former gas station that’s now owned by the county. Crews became alarmed when they detected an odor of gasoline coming from the soil, which was then placed in three large roll-off dumpsters located on the county’s property at the former gas station.
No one’s sure of the source of the gasoline smell. The city says it has reason to believe it’s coming from the county-owned property. There’s another former service station directly across the street. The county argues that it could be coming from that location. County officials, in a meeting Tuesday with city representatives, added that the dirt came from city right-of-way and that it should be the city’s responsibility to clean it up. City officials argued that it’s the county’s responsibility–especially if it’s proven the source of the possible contamination is coming from property it now owns.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has been contacted regarding the matter and samples of the soil have been sent in for testing to see if it is contaminated, and if so, to what extent.
County officials are hopeful something can be worked out soon before the former gas station is scheduled to be torn down yet this summer in conjunction with the courthouse project.
City representatives Tuesday told the board of supervisors they’ll bill the county for the use of the roll-offs and any disposal of the dirt if it (the city) winds up taking care of it.
