Oklahoma County confronting soil contamination at site of future jail

The Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners is considering a contract to remediate contaminated soil on the site of the county's future campus for a new jail and behavioral care center.

An item was originally listed on the agenda for a meeting last week, but was tabled last minute by the county engineer.

"I need to strike this and bring it back to you," county engineer Stacey Trumbo told the Commissioners during an Aug. 27 meeting.

Trumbo suggested there was some urgency to getting a contract approved. He told News 9 he hopes it will appear on the agenda for this coming Wednesday.

Crews have faced previous obstacles related to dirt work at the site in southeast Oklahoma City. In April, it was reported that roughly 50-square yards of soil was "very wet" and not meeting compaction standards conducive to construction.

However, a draft of the contract to address the latest issue indicates that there are 3,700 cubic yards of contaminated soil that needs to be removed at the site.

A proposal priced the work at roughly $360,605.

The proposed contractor, Midwest Wrecking, told News 9 it could start and finish the work within 3 weeks, after a contract is approved.

Other documents affiliated with the contract on the county's website indicate the contamination is related to hydrocarbons, which are byproducts of oil and gas activity.

A standard environmental site assessment published last year revealed that the property, historically, had been the site of some oil drilling. However, the company that conducted the assessment did not conclude there were any major environmental risks.

Soil samples pulled from three areas in the site in August of 2024 did not detect the presence of hydrocarbons at the time, according to the site assessment.