Officials are planning a $7.3 million cleanup of a contaminated site in downtown Springfield.
The Springfield News-Leader reports officials have known for years that the land is contaminated. The land, which is owned by City Utilities, is in the Jordan Valley Corridor, a former industrial area that was once home to several factories.
Mike Kromrey, executive director of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, says the pollution is likely at least 150 years old.
City Utilities spokesman Joel Alexander said testing earlier this year detected petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals and volatile organic compounds.
He says no there are no imminent threats to the environment or health, but City Utilities doesn't want to prolong the cleanup efforts.