
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 31, 1990                   TAG: 9007310375
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BEN BEAGLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GAS POLLUTES TWO ROAD SITES

Gasoline-polluted soil at the sites of two major Roanoke Valley road-building projects is not expected to hold up construction, the state Department of Transportation says.

Henry Howard, assistant district engineer for the department's Salem District, said Monday that tests revealed contaminated soil near a $3.5 million project to widen Franklin Road Southwest between Third Street and Elm Avenue.

Howard said the state Water Control Board and Coastal Corp., which operates the C-Mart convenience store at Franklin and Elm, have been notified of the pollution. He said the corporation is responsible for cleaning up the contaminated area at its own expense.

"There might be some complications," Howard said, but the department doesn't expect a major delay.

He could offer no cost estimate for a cleanup, and did not know how much soil had been contaminated.

Rob Mazanec, a spokesman for Coastal Corp. in Houston, said the corporation has told the state board its tanks are not responsible for the leak. He said an inspection of the tanks showed no leaks, so "we feel we're not at fault" for fuel now in the soil.

Bruce Davidson of the board said the agency hasn't received a reply from the corporation. He said any further action by the board would not be taken until after it hears from Coastal.

The department also found polluted soil at the old Orange Market on U.S. 221.

It was found after the store had been purchased for right of way for a $13.6 million project that will widen U.S. 221 to four lanes for about two miles south from its intersection with Virginia 419.

Howard said modern underground tanks at the store site were not leaking, but pollution had occurred in the past.

The cost for cleaning the 400 cubic yards of soil will have to be added to the cost of the project, he said.

There are several ways to clean up polluted sites, he said. The soil can be aerated, taken to a dumping ground in 50-gallon drums, or burned.

Howard said he didn't know what method would be used at the Orange Market site or how much it would cost.

by CNB