Kansas State University’s public safety team was notified Tuesday afternoon that soil under the L.P. Washburn tennis courts was contaminated with diesel fuel.
A contractor found the layer of contaminated soil 12 to 36 inches below the surface as crews were leveling the ground. The area has been blocked off and covered.
According to Steve Galitzer, the university’s director for public safety, roughly 100 cubic yards of soil is being removed.
The North Central Regional Office of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, or KDHE, was immediately contacted Tuesday afternoon. A KDHE official surveyed the area Wednesday morning. The university and KDHE are currently working to remove the contaminated soil and transport it to a Rolling Meadows Landfill in Topeka.
The area has no known history of diesel fuel spills. It was developed for the tennis courts in 1962 when outside soil was brought in to level off the pastureland.
