Despite contaminated soil, the city of Belen will continue with its plan to build a new fire station on the corner of South Fifth Street and Castillo Avenue.
John Pate, an engineer with Molzen Corbin, told the council at a workshop last week that the site the city selected last year to build its new fire station was found to be contaminated with fuel. He suggests the city clean up the site as much as possible before construction begins.
The problem is that the cost of clean up will dip into the voter-approved funding to build and equip the fire station. In March 2016, voters approved a $4 million general obligation bond to build a new fire station to replace the current building on South Sixth Street, which is too small and old for what the fire department needs.
“Regarding the soil sample report that came back, there is contamination at the proposed new site,” said Belen Fire Chief Manny Garcia. “Right now, we’re at a halt because we don’t know what step to take next. The next step will cost money and we don’t know where that money is going to come from.”