Excavation work going as planned at NDSU Klai Hall
Crews on Friday completed excavation work near North Dakota State University's Klai Hall in downtown Fargo without incident.
Mike Borr, NDSU's assistant director of environmental health and safety, said crews uncovered sections of pipe and other metal and removed it from the site, which is adjacent to 811 2nd Ave. N.
Klai Hall and neighboring Sons of Norway were closed Friday as a safety precaution. Both buildings will reopen Monday.
Classes are scheduled in Klai and Richard H. Barry halls starting at 4 p.m. Monday.
The environmental consultant took readings for potential contaminants and did not find anything out of the ordinary, Borr said. There was no soil contamination found.
Workers from Asplin Excavating hit a pipe on Aug. 7 as they were preparing the site to be resurfaced as a parking lot between Klai and Richard H. Barry halls. Five people were treated after being exposed.
It's unclear what the piping was from, Borr said.
Fire department officials suspected the pipes were connected to an old waste tank once used by a car dealership at that location, but crews did not uncover such a tank.
Early testing by Great Plains Environmental said a small amount of soil was contaminated at the site. The substance was naphthalene, a volatile organic compound.
