KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Mediation sessions have been scheduled for next month in an ongoing fight over cleaning up contamination at a former Air Force base in Salina.

Officials from the city of Salina, the Salina Airport Authority, the Salina school district and Kansas State University-Salina filed a federal lawsuit last year. It seeks to expedite the cleanup of
soil and groundwater polluted decades ago with an industrial degreaser at the former Schilling Air Force Base.

The plaintiffs contend that the federal government should pay for the cleanup because the chemicals came from the Air Force operation at the site.

Salina Airport Authority executive director Tim Rogers says the first mediation sessions are set for Oct. 25-27 in Kansas City, Missouri.