JACKSON -- Department of Natural Resources officials don't know how much soil was contaminated while a Coop Service Center Inc. kerosene tank leaked, but the petroleum wholesaler contracted St. Louis environmental consultants to figure it out.

A 13,000-gallon kerosene tank on East Washington Street across from the Coop office rusted and developed a leak that went undetected until Jan. 25. Residents near the tank smelled the fuel, then noticed a sheen on top of nearby Goose Creek.

VICAR Petroleum Inc. of Cape Girardeau responded to an emergency call later that afternoon to stop the leak, VICAR General Manager Mike Ford said. Fiber optic cables in the area had to be found before any work was done, so digging didn't begin until 8:30 p.m.

Work continued day and night until Saturday. VICAR workers used backhoes and other equipment to continue removing soil Tuesday.

Ford said there was no way to predict how long work would take or the total cost of the leak. His company has removed piles of dirt and covered them with plastic, installed monitoring wells to recover some of the kerosene and placed oil-absorbent material in Goose Creek.

The dirt currently sits on Coop property, but must be removed to an environmentally safe landfill later.

"People aren't in any danger," Ford said. "There's just an odor problem that developed when we started removing the soil, but that's all."

DNR environmental specialist Brad Harris agreed the emergency phase of the operation was over, but circumstances might change. For example, more kerosene could show up in sewer lines or as vapor in basements.

Another DNR specialist, Jim Harris, said VICAR already collected about 450 gallons of kerosene, but there may be as many as 3,000 gallons to clean up.

Department specialists visited Jackson early in the crisis and will return later.

Their role in the cleanup is to be sure the responsible party, Coop, handles things quickly and picks up the tab for the problem. Harris said Coop was being very cooperative. If it weren't, the department would have to assume a watchdog role instead of a helping one.

Because of the leak, Coop will close the plant and dismantle it.

"We have to move the tanks in the next few days, and then we'll probably remove the dirt under them," Coop spokesman Jim Hope said. "We have another plant that is much more updated."