ASHLAND — Because of concerns about newfound levels of arsenic, lead and train fuels in the soil — and a public flap over the thousands of truckloads it would take to get rid of it — the state Department of Environmental Quality has canceled a planned cleanup of the Ashland rail yard, at least for this year.

Union Pacific Railroad was planning to haul out 45,000 cubic yards of contaminated dirt this summer to make way for a residential development but DEQ ruled that research done five years ago — shooting for 30 ppm (parts per million) of arsenic in the remaining soil — was "not defensible," said the agency's project manager, Greg Aitken.

If the railroad decides to move forward with the cleanup, this would have to be reduced much closer to the background level for Ashland, around 7 ppm, Aitken added. In its own research, UP estimates that dropping it to 10 ppm would require the removal of an additional 10,000 to 11,000 cubic yards of soil, Aitken said.

The 20-acre property a quarter-mile from downtown was a locomotive and railcar maintenance yard between 1887 and 1986 and is polluted with various hazardous wastes from its past industrial use. A cleanup is required before the company can develop the site for mixed housing and commercial uses.

"They (Union Pacific officials in Laramie, Wyo.) told us they don't know yet what this (cancellation) means to them except they've dropped plans to proceed this summer," said Aitken.

Union Pacific officials could not immediately be reached by phone Wednesday.

The DEQ decision gives city officials the luxury of more time to plan for the high-impact soil removal project, which would be behind a row of art galleries and professional offices on B Street, said Mayor John Morrison.

The city and DEQ officials will hold a work session on the issue at 5:15 p.m. today in City Council chambers on East Main Street.

"The city will take the position that when the soil is moved, it's done in a way that impacts the city in the most minimal manner," Morrison said. " If we determine that's by rail — and that doesn't cause other problems, like dust and noise, then the city will insist on that. It doesn't make me happy if our citizens are not taken into the process."

On a city Internet chat room, residents have complained about the threat of ground water contamination from the site, as well as heavy metal pollution from dust if trucks haul it away.

"It's a very important piece of property, very close to the community," said city management analyst Ann Seltzer. "The city sees the site as a piece of land that should eventually be cleaned up, but it's not the city's call to say when."

Said Morrison, "It may be best to do it as fast as possible, like pulling off a Band-Aid." Moving the soil by truck, he added, would take about three months, while rail would take a year.

The next step, said Aitken, is for DEQ to consult with the railroad, "re-evaluate and come up with a reasonable (arsenic) cleanup level, consistent with background levels in Ashland." The tightened levels, he added, would significantly increase costs on the cleanup project, already estimated at $3.5 million.

Input from city officials and residents in the last few weeks showed "not surprisingly, that there's a lot of concern about thousands of truckloads" of arsenic-laden dirt passing daily through neighborhoods, said Aitken.

When DEQ approved the cleanup in 2001, it was "implicitly assumed" that contaminated dirt would be taken out on Union Pacific trains, said Aitken, "but when these public safety issues were raised, we realized this (removal by truck and high arsenic levels) were a fundamental change from what we approved five years ago."

Today's council session on the cleanup was originally slated to be about logistics of the cleanup, said Aitken, but now likely will focus on "the implications (of the DEQ's cancellation) and the fate of the project."

Councilwoman Cate Hartzell supported DEQ's move, saying, "I hope DEQ decides to go back to the drawing board on this."

John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.