Removing contaminated soil is likely to be the next step in handling toxic levels of a chemical found at the future site of a 65-unit student housing building, according to a recent report.

Blue Mountain Harmony LLC recently submitted the work plan to the state after voluntary soil testing during the summer revealed high amounts of tetrachloroethylene, known as PCE, in the soil of property it purchased where a Balfurd Cleaners used to stand, 320 W. Beaver Ave.

Bill Sharpe, a Penn State forest hydrology professor, said PCE is a volatile chemical solvent widely used in dry cleaning to fight stains. He said it is heavier than water, which causes it to sink down in the soil.

"PCE is probably carcinogenic," Sharpe said. "The major concern is that it would be ingested somehow, and I'm concerned it would migrate from the soil into groundwater."

Brad Karch, a co-owner of Blue Mountain Harmony, said he expected construction to start without delay this spring, and the opening would be timed with the start of the 2007-08 academic year.

"I don't see the negative in this thing," said Karch. "We knew it [used to be] a dry cleaner when we bought it."

He said the building would look much like Nicholas Towers, 301 S. Pugh Street, and was being designed by the same architects.

The building will have 40 two-bedroom units and 25 one-bedroom units, said Karch.

State College Water Authority Executive Max Gill said the chemical findings posed no threat to area water supplies. He said a layer of clay was a barrier to PCE seepage, and the flow of the groundwater would be in the opposite direction, down-gradient rather than upstream.

Gill said the closest well was at Chestnut Ridge, which was about two miles away, and he was "not too concerned" that it would be contaminated.

Twenty-five soil samples were taken at the site and 18 showed PCE levels above state limits, according to the Oct. 17 report.

The most hazardous soil was 100 cubic feet found at the Highland Alley end of the property.

The environmental consulting firm that performed the tests, Blazosky Associates Inc., did not return repeated phone calls.

About 2,400 cubic feet of impacted soil will be removed, falling into three concentrations: hazardous waste (concentrations greater than 60 mg/kg of PCE), residual waste (concentrations between 60 and 43 mg/kg of PCE), and clean fill (concentrations less than 43 mg/kg of PCE).

The most hazardous soil -- such as the 100 cubic feet found at Highland Alley -- will be transported to Wayne, Mich., for incineration or to a waste landfill in Canada, depending on its contamination level, Gill said.

Soil deemed "clean fill" will be used, and residual waste soil will be disposed at the Onyx Greentree Landfill in Kersey.

Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Dan Spadoni said he was unsure how long it would take to approve the work plan.

Once the work plan is approved, the next step is actually removing the soil, he said.