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Soil Tests Could Settle Debate Over Location For New Jail
By: Associated Press
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Tests of soil to gauge possible contamination could help settle a debate over where to locate a new jail to replace a chronically overcrowded facility in southeastern Ohio.
The new Fairfield County Jail will cost at least $30 million and will replace three old and overcrowded buildings that often flunk state inspections.
County commissioners expect results this week of testing of soil conditions at a proposed site close to courts and lawyers' offices in downtown Lancaster.
Officials hope the results answer questions about soil stability and possible contamination leftover from a 19th-century slaughterhouse, tannery and other industries.
Some want the jail built farther out of Lancaster on undeveloped land near the current multicounty juvenile detention center.