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POCATELLO -- The earthen core samples measure only 2 1/2 inches in diameter. But these cylinders of dirt, taken from two to 15 feet deep, hold the key to future cleanup strategies at what was once one of the largest phosphorous plants in the country.

Crews began excavating the samples Friday as part of a supplemental remedial investigation that will examine what contaminants lie beneath the earth's surface at the now defunct FMC site. Paul Yochum, FMC's former plant manager who now is a consultant for the company, said the testing represents the next step in an ongoing cleanup process. "We've been doing groundwater observations," said Yochum, pointing to blue tags that mark subterranean wells. "Now, the focus is on the ground and the soil."

Although FMC and Simplot, its neighbor to the east, spent more than $30 million on an initial feasibility study published in 1994, that study did not focus on those areas of the plant still in operation. So after the FMC plant -- which opened in Pocatello in 1949 and processed 2 million tons of raw material annually during its heyday -- closed in December 2001 and was demolished, another round of testing was deemed necessary.

"They had to get the buildings knocked down and the people moved out of the way," explained Sue Skinner, a specialist with the Environmental Protection Agency. The 1,540-acre FMC site was listed, along with the adjacent Simplot plant, as the Eastern Michaud Flats Superfund site in 1990. If Simplot were to shut down, that site would have to go through the same testing procedures, Yochum said. The current drilling is expected to last until November and core samples will be analyzed at three different laboratories located around the West.

The findings from those samples will then be used to make final cleanup recommendations, although Skinner said that part of the process might not be completed until 2009 or later. In many areas of the site, importing a layer of topsoil and planting native grasses might ultimately be enough to satisfy remediation requirements. "It depends on what they find," Yochum said.

Though phosphorous is the primary contaminant crews expect to find, they'll also be looking closely for evidence of diesel spills and heavy metals such as cadmium. The drilling crews, hired by FMC to do the work, started their work in parts of the site that aren't believed to be heavily contaminated. On Wednesday, they focused on a deserted gravel lot where coke from Wyoming was once sorted. Eventually, they crews will work their way to sites below the "hot" zones such as where the furnace building stood. "There you're going to anticipate finding phosphorous," Yochum said.

FMC's Pocatello plant was the company's second-largest before it shut down, with only the Green River, Wyo., plant eclipsing it in size. Now, however, FMC is down to just one full-time employee in the Gate City.

About 70 percent of the FMC site lies on the Fort Hall Reservation, but a large chunk of the non-reservation land is slated for a 520-megawatt coal gasification plant. Plans for the gasification plant were announced in March 2005, but months of silence have led to speculation that plans might be changing, or be scrapped completely. At least one former FMC official has cited the Old Works golf course in Anaconda, Mont., located near the site of a defunct copper smelting operation, as another possible future model for the site.