Hill Air Force Base officials say they are seeking proposals to remove and replace the soil in housing areas contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls - including one home that environmental managers have declared uninhabitable since finding levels of the potentially toxic chemical compound that are hundreds of times higher than what is considered safe by the base's own environmental risk assessors.

But blood tests performed on 13 individuals - mostly children - who have lived in the contaminated area have found no detectable levels of the PCBs, a base spokeswoman said Friday.

Hill's spokeswoman for environmental issues, Barbara Fisher, said cleanup likely would begin in the fall.

"The first part of September is what we're shooting for," Fisher said.

Absent any bids on the project - in which approximately 1,700 cubic yards of contaminated soil will be removed from areas where PCBs have been detected above 1 part per million - Fisher said it was uncertain how much the effort would cost.

Hill first found the chemicals, which once were used as coolants and lubricants but which have been banned since 1977, during routine soil testing in December and January in preparation for a renovation of about 50 duplex-style housing units.

Since then, more than 700 soil samples have been collected and analyzed.

"Our concern from the beginning has been the safety and health of our military families living in the area, which is why we've pushed to get this done as quickly as possible," 75th Air Base Wing Commander Scott Chambers said in a statement. "Accomplishing this cleanup from start to finish in less than a year is the fastest I have ever heard of and a significant accomplishment for Hill AFB."

The Air Force plans to meet with the housing residents to gather their input prior to starting the cleanup.

About 100 families live in the affected areas.

mlaplante@sltrib.com