It will likely be late summer or fall before residents of Butler's South Side get a final report on arsenic contamination stemming from the former Franklin Glass Co. plant.

That time frame is reasonable based on the collection of soil samples, testing and other investigatory work that remains to be done.

The state Department of Environmental Protection must be given adequate time to thoroughly investigate so all questions and concerns can be properly assessed and addressed — and so all possible sites of contamination can be found.

A meeting with neighborhood residents last week confirmed that the DEP has not relaxed its determined intention to get to the bottom of the Franklin Glass issue before the onset of less favorable weather in late fall.

Arsenic was used by Franklin Glass to remove bubbles from molten glass. Testing for arsenic contamination wasn't conducted in 1955, the year that Franklin Glass closed. Likewise, no government agency or organization required such tests in the early 1970s when remains of the plant's structures were cleared following a July 5, 1972, fire at the site.

Considering the initial concerns over what levels of arsenic might be lurking in the soil of Father Marinaro Park and the Franklin Court Apartments, formerly called the Kaufman Drive Apartments, the update received last week by South Side residents was cause for some cautious optimism that, in the end, the situation won't ultimately pose any disruption to their lives.

Dr. Mark White, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health, said soil samples collected by the DEP since a meeting with South Side residents on May 6 basically revealed low levels of arsenic in the developed areas of the South Side neighborhood, including at the baseball and football fields.

But only the further testing and analyses planned by the DEP can enable the state environmental agency to close the book on the arsenic contamination case.

Still of some concern are undeveloped sites left from the glass plant, including the former plant's waste lagoons. With that in mind, the DEP has asked parents to keep their children away from those areas.

"We don't think there is a real health threat there, but until we have a better idea of the levels in these areas, we recommend avoiding those areas if possible," White said.

The DEP has pomised to notify city officials and neighborhood residents if anything that could be a major health risk is found between now and the anticipated end of testing in late July. That promise, along with the DEP's laudable efforts at keeping South Side residents informed since the arsenic contamination first was discovered in April, should serve as a measure of comfort to people who understandably have been fearful of what negative possibilities might lie ahead.

In that regard, no news from DEP should be considered good news.

Regardless, the DEP plans a meeting later this year to presumably close the investigation, if remaining testing allows that. In the meantime, a repository for information collected in the case has been established at the Butler Public Library on North McKean Street, as well as at the Web site www.depweb.state.pa.us.

If any actual cleanup work is deemed necessary, DEP officials presumably will have a plan of action to divulge to the community.

As a result of DEP's cautious, albeit necessary, attitude since the discovery of the arsenic, South Side residents were justified in being concerned about what might lie ahead.

The more upbeat tone of last week's meeting gave those residents grounds for a lower level of anxiety.

The old saying "it's better to be safe than sorry" is apropos for Franklin Glass' arsenic legacy.