A study and cost estimates were sought for water table repairs and diesel remediation at the Morton County Law Enforcement Center in Mandan Tuesday.

After lengthy debate, Morton County Commissioners voted to have Tim Kenyon of the Leggette, Brashears & Graham Co. return with a cost estimate to do borings and a study of what is below the LEC. His task is to find out what future repair options and costs are.

The basement of the LEC had to be vacated after employees became ill from fumes. Those fumes were determined to come from decades of diesel spill from the Burlington Railway in Mandan. The diesel fumes rose with a high water table.

The basement is now used for storage, a weight room and a temporary break room, but not for office space.

LBG has worked with the Mandan Remediation Trust in clearing up other diesel recovery efforts throughout Mandan.

The MRT coordinates cleanup of the diesel through the $24 million settlement awarded to those impacted by the spill.

The Morton County Commission will use Kenyon's information to determine its next step.

"Once that is complete, we can look at the various options for the ground water control," Commissioner Bruce Strinden said.

Kenyon estimated he would need to drill 4 to 6 feet to assess the problems below the floor. He expected that Morton County may need to seek some help from the MRT in this part of the process.

He said to start any remedial efforts, the county must identify intended uses for the basement of the LEC, and how much work it wants done to accomplish that.

Kenyon was told that the county did not expect to use the LEC basement for permanent office space again.

"It requires a drain tile system under the floor slab, and a sufficient depth to keep the water from coming up," Kenyon said.

He said the drain system should not threaten the structural integrity of the LEC.

Kenyon said there were many repair options, but each has a dual component. The county must first clear up its high water table issues, then decide how to control them.

"It doesn't make sense to do further remediation in the Law Enforcement Center until you have a ground water management system," said Francis Schwindt of the MRT.

He said the ground water issue control was not the MRT's responsibility, but the county's.

Commission Chair Dick Tokach asked if a ground water system were installed and the building de-watered, would the remediation fund help with existing diesel odor.

Schwindt said the MRT would be willing to discuss it.

Strinden said it was in everyone's best interest to work together to move the effort forward since the LEC was used by both the city and county.

"I believe at some point that the water table is going to come up again,"Strinden said. "If it does that and no action has been taken, then I believe we are going to have fumes again, not only in the basement, but coming up through the elevator shaft. … We are at a point where we really need to do something."

Commissioner Andy Zachmeier asked for cost estimates from Kenyon, because he said he doubted any help would come from remediation trust group. "I think will be a 100 percent county responsibility," he said.

"If the ground water table comes up and dislodges more diesel fuel, we're in the same position," Zachmeier said. "The ground water is going to trigger the diesel fuel."

Schwindt said whether the diesel fuel is there or not, if the ground water comes up, the basement will be wet and unusable.

The motion to do the study through LBG was made by Strinden and accepted by the board.

Commissioner Jim Boehm was absent.

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