VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Construction of a new Public Works Service Center is underway in Valley City.

Last month, City Administrator Gwen Crawford told the city commission high levels of petroleum were detected in the soil at the construction site compared to initial soil testing taken months ago on east Main.

Crawford said once construction crews dug deeper, they found petroleum in the excavated soil, the city then received approval from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality to farm out the soil and shift through the soil to remove debris. The city began that process on land east of Drug Plastics owned by the city.

Crawford said the mitigation process with the city and the contractor was approved by the North Dakota Dept. of Environmental Quality. But she said approval for a second farming out site south of Valley City is still pending.

Valley City resident Lance Peterson then expressed concern that the farming out site was too close to a waterway drainage system following a torrential rainfall of more than 4 inches one day this summer in Valley City.

But Crawford said the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality approved of the current mitigation process of building a berm around the soil farming out site according to the guidelines.

When Crawford was asked about claims made by a few citizens on Social Media critical of the process, she said the city is working with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality to be sure they are following their guidelines.

The full interview with Gwen Crawford is below.