(WEAU) - The City of Eau Claire is working with Xcel Energy to clean the soil in portions of Owen Park.
The move comes after concentrations of petroleum and heavy metals were found in the park's soil that was made from a factory more than a century ago. A company contracted by Xcel will replace about 25,000 tons of soil from the park.
Experts say it's important to do the project now because the contaminants won't go away and will be a problem for future generations.
Hydrogeologist Doug Joseph told us Thursday "The problem with this type of contamination, it doesn't degrade so the metals there are at the same concentration as they were put there when they dumped it out the back door in the 1800s.”
The project is slated to begin in October and will take several months.
Xcel took over the company that owned the Owen Park plant so it's responsible for the cleanup.
