Local legend holds that Fairfield old-timers boasted the roads here are paved with gold.

Their story may have had a grain of truth since they hauled in gold mine tailings by the wagonload to fill in the ruts and holes in their unpaved, clay-silt roads.

But those tailings from mines in Manning Canyon also contained a toxic pollution -- arsenic.

Town Council members here spent a portion of a recent meeting discussing the arsenic-laden road base, road conditions and road ownership.

Fairfield roads are now chip-sealed, effectively enveloping the arsenic-infused base -- but when pot holes develop or road edges deteriorate, arsenic dust can be released into the air.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality is doing a study on the arsenic content in Fairfield roads, with the help of Utah State University, said Mayor Lynn Gillies, noting he plans to meet with Dianne Nielson, DEQ director, about the problem of arsenic dust both in the road base and in the flood plain.

The Environmental Protection Agency documented the arsenic problem in Fairfield with a study in 2000.

The flood plain in areas where water has washed chemical residue down from Manning Canyon mining operations contains arsenic in varying levels. According to the mayor, certain undeveloped areas contain an arsenic concentration as high as 8,000 parts per million, far higher than the 79 parts per million allowed in developed areas by Utah law.

Arsenic is known to cause lung, skin, bladder, kidney and liver cancer, as well as internal bleeding and spontaneous abortion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

"We are looking at getting some funding for cleanup," Gillies said.

The town could declare a "no growth" zone in the most highly contaminated areas, he said.

The DEQ study will also examine the effect of traffic on Fairfield's chip-sealed roads and make recommendations.

Town Council members also discussed the official status of Fairfield roads in relation to maps of the town.

Some roads plotted on a federal map dating from 1863 were never built, and some roads built were never included on an official map.

The status of Church Road has been questioned by residents.

Gillies said the town's position is that Church Road is a private lane.

Church Road was constructed by landowners and never dedicated as a county road before Fairfield incorporated in 2004.

In order for the town to take ownership of Church Road, every landowner along the road would have to deed land to the town to the center of the road.

Until that happens, the council will reject building permit applications along Church Road because the homes would lack the required frontage on a town road, Gillies said.