The Morton County Commission opted to seek bids on how to best remedy diesel problems and groundwater issues below the Law Enforcement Center.

Commission members Monday debated whether the basement of the facility could ever be occupied by permanent office space. Lower floor offices were vacated after employees complained of illness and fumes.

It was later found that diesel had tainted the water table and ground beneath the LEC. The fuel came from a diesel fuel spill traced to Burlington Northern Railroad.

"The overall condition of the basement is good,"Commissioner Bruce Strinden said. "We did notice some diesel odor right around the elevator shaft. There also was some discernable odor from one of the other rooms.

"We've got 10,000 square feet on the lower level. It would be a wonderful thing if it could be fully utilized again, but the general consensus of the group was that will probably never happen again, partially due to the stigma and partially due to if the water table ever were to come up again, we would have some issues."

Strinden said some kind of groundwater recovery system and replacement would be necessary to maintain the current use of that floor.

In lieu of offices, it now houses locker rooms, a weight/exercise room, a conference/training room, a walk-in firearms safe, a uniform storage room, an evidence locker, an equipment storage room, a crime laboratory and an interrogation room.

"I think we can be sure the water table will come up again. We just can't be sure when," Strinden said.

Commissioners said the group that wins the bid could identify what the best solution is. Considered is water collection around the perimeter of the building, or combining that with soil collection and floor replacement.

"Something has got to catch the water," Commissioner Mark Bitz said.

"I think we would probably be limited to using it as it is right now," Strinden said. "The problem is if we don't do something down there and the water table does come up again, we're going to have some fuel problems down there."

Strinden said the biggest question remains how to pay for it. "I think it remains on the county's hook," he said.

The board agreed they would seek a share of the Mandan Remediation Trust, or ask the railroad to fund repairs. The MRT was awarded $24 million to help the city of Mandan recover from the diesel spill through cleanup and development.

Commissioners reasoned the LEC is jointly operated by the city and the county, and the city has an interest in its upkeep.

(Reach reporter LeAnn Eckroth at 250-8264 or leann.eckroth@;bismarcktribune.com.)