STEUBENVILLE — City officials have been told 146 truckloads of topsoil, “more or less,” may have been removed from a long-forgotten cemetery on McDowell Avenue before the project was shut down two weeks ago.

In an update sent to city officials, developer Tom Simons said ASC Group, a Columbus-based consultant specializing in cultural, environmental and hazardous site evaluations, had been hired by Woda Cooper Companies to conduct an archaeological evaluation of the site on the hillside behind The Laundromat. Woda Cooper has clearances and funding to build as many as 50 affordable senior housing units at the site, recently revealed to have been a Catholic cemetery phased out in the 1880s.

Diocesan representatives suggest the graves were moved to Mt. Calvary or Union Cemetery, but as of April 1, when dirt-moving was halted, interment records had not been located in diocesan archives.

According to the update, ASC’s team will use additional ground-penetrating radar, or GPR, and, if needed, “a complementary method like magnetic gradient survey,” as well as human remains detection, or HRD, dogs to “delineate the full extent of the cemetery and identify any potential additional burials.” MGS is a noninvasive method used to detect, among other things, unmarked graves in cemeteries.

Simons said that before a site supervisor halted dirt-moving activities after locating five markers in displaced soil, “146+/- truckloads of soil were removed to the contractor’s private storage yard in West Virginia.”

“That spoil has been sequestered and marked off from other spoil,” Simons wrote. “ASC will investigate (it) for the presence of additional headstone fragments and any dislocated human remains that may have been included in the soil. Although none are anticipated, the potential for that situation to exist must be investigated.”

Contacted Wednesday, Simons said “146 truckloads, plus or minus, that was the number we were given. I’m still waiting on the contractor to give us (the final) amount,” reiterating that all of the soil “has been segregated and isolated and ASC will investigate (it)” in addition to the cemetery site.

“This is what this company does,” he said. “They’re archaeologists and historians and SHPO-approved (State Historic Preservation Office approved).”

He said they hope the site review begins early next week, “but we don’t have an exact date.”

In his letter to city officials, Simons said ASC “brings a permanent full-time staff of principal investigators, archaeologists and archaeological technicians to conduct the full spectrum of archaeological investigations and cultural services.”

“They also have a full-time staff of architectural historians and historians to conduct a wide range of preservation studies,” he wrote. “ASC conducts all evaluations and assessments according to the best practices established by the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Every member of their leadership team and staff is individually dedicated to the appropriate level of documentation of our nation’s cultural resources.”

In addition to on-site evaluations, ASC will collect historical data to “provide historic context, historic boundaries and possibly information on documented interments/headstones.”

“This will provide historic context for the cemetery and any recovered remains,” he wrote, adding that the methods ASC employs — GPR and, if needed, HRD dogs and MGS — “have proven effective and efficient in past cemetery delineation efforts.” The update said suspected burials, if any, would be plotted, which, if necessary, would delineate the area of concern and provide a numerical count of potential interments.

The update also noted HRD dogs “specifically trained and certified in ancient remains detection” would be used.

“This method has proven highly successful at (identifying) disarticulated human remains in nearly identical contexts,” it said. “To complete this survey, ASC will coordinate with the contractor to spread the spoil pile over a broad area, generally flattening the mound surface. An appropriate machine and operator for this task will be provided by Woda Construction Inc. HRD dogs, working with their handler, will then investigate the ground surface for olfactory evidence of human remains.”

The dogs are trained to provide indications, or “hits,” if any, on suspected parts of the soil pile where human remains are detected. Those areas can then be examined by trained archaeologists.

“This process will be repeated several times to ensure thorough examination of the spoil pile,” the update noted. “Recovered human remains (would) be placed in appropriate containers to protect and minimize degradation prior to reburial.”