Sewage Contaminated Soil

[SiPaul]

We have a site where some sewage backed up into an excavation (demolished buildng excavation).

The sewage was there for a few weeks before the sanitary line was repaired. It is not uncommon to have sewage in an excavation for utility work and I assume tha the trench is just backfilled.

Could this area just be backfilled or would we do well to excavate the 'contaminated' soil and test it until we get below the e.coli level. Common sense seems to say that this the thing to do but maybe someone has run into a similar situation.

Thanks

 

[civilperson]

Time and oxygen will cure your problem. Wait six months to test or inject air wells into the soil where you want an improvement. The definition of "contaminated" is a legal one. Check on the applicability of that term for your situation. Septic systems are found in all fifty states and the drainage field areas are not considered contaminated.

 

[cvg]

in many areas, septic systems are being rapidly replaced with sanitary sewers and treatment plants because they are considered to be contaminating the groundwater...