News File Photo Alpena Public Schools transportation facility at 1357 M-32 West is pictured here.

ALPENA — Environmental cleanup at Alpena Public Schools’ bus garage may have to occur before a deal to bring an Aldi to Northeast Michigan can move forward.

Aldi representatives recently told developers with Grosse-Pointe-based Vautgrand Holdings they are not willing to cover any cost of environmental cleanup, school board Vice President Stacey Parr said on Thursday.

District officials were told the clean-up is estimated to cost about $670,000.

Two underground storage tanks were removed from the site in June of 2000, according to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s local action plan for the property.

The plan said more clean-up was done in 2017, when 7,471 tons of contaminated soil and 5,600 gallons of contaminated groundwater were removed from the site.

The plan also states soil, ground water, and vapor intrusion investigations are underway on and off-site to determine the extent of the contamination, and undertake corrective actions.

APS officials have been working with the developers to relocate its bus garage from its current location at 1357 M-32 West to a new location behind Alpena High School, near Wildcat Stadium.

After a new bus garage is constructed, the property would be transferred and an Aldi would open on the M-32 site.

Parr said she’s trying to understand why this is a new development and if Aldi representatives were informed by the developer that the site was contaminated. She said district officials were always transparent about contamination at the site.

“I’m fairly certain that from the beginning everything was on the table about the fact that there’s always been an environmental issue on that piece of property,” she said. “In the history of the school having it, there’s been different phases of various clean-ups, but it’s never been 100% rectified according to the State of Michigan.”

The board of education will discuss the matter at a special board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Central Office, where the board is expected to approve the budget for the 2021-22 school year.