A crew is augering footings for a small ground-mount at a former fuel depot now used as a park. The environmental report flags this corner for possible petroleum-impacted soil, the contract requires notifying the site contact before a flagged area is disturbed, and a storm drain inlet sits ten feet downhill of the hole. The auger brings up dark, oily soil that smells of fuel. Which excavation control should the crew apply before more soil is removed from that hole?

The dark, oily, fuel-smelling soil in a flagged area is potentially petroleum-impacted, so further augering could disturb or spread material before the required site contact is notified. Stop work in that hole, leave the stain and soil undisturbed, take reasonable steps to keep runoff out of the storm drain, and notify the site contact before resuming. This follows the contract’s notification sequence while limiting disturbance and protecting the nearby drain. The isolation-only approach—roping off the hole and moving to other footings without notifying the contact—may limit access but does not satisfy the notification requirement. The continue-while-waiting approach calls the contact but keeps augering, causing additional disturbance before the required notice and direction. The remove-and-backfill approach reports the stain but bins the soil and places clean fill, moving potentially impacted material before notification rather than leaving it undisturbed. Exam caveat: stopping and notifying is a control step, not a determination of contamination or authorization to sample, transport, or remediate soil; follow the site contact’s direction and applicable site procedures. Practical check: confirm the contact has been notified, the stained soil remains in place, and runoff is kept out of the drain before work resumes.