BEDFORD, N.H. (AP) – Three Little League fields built over the old town dump were closed and being tested after environmental consultants found toxins in the soil of a nearby parking lot.

Bedford officials closed the fields last Thursday when Normandeau Associates reported finding PCBs in their parking lot about 50 feet from the fields on Nashua Road. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are an industrial compound used in gaskets, insulation materials and electrical components. Long-term exposure to PCBs can cause cancer and liver damage.

“We closed the fields immediately,” said Town Manager Keith Hickey. “We don’t know if our soil is contaminated, too, and we won’t know until we get the test results.”

Hickey said the town hired a Concord firm to test the fields, and expected results to be available by Thursday. Thirty years ago, the baseball fields site was a landfill, he said.

Pamela Hall, president of Normandeau Associates, said the company tested the soil because of plans to buy the property.

“We were testing the soil for contaminants because we know this all used to be a landfill,” she said. “We don’t know if it is widespread or it is localized and we just hit a hot spot.”

Hall said property owner Dan Realty was talking to state and local officials about how to deal with the PCBs.

The state’s response depends on test results, said Jim Martin, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Services.

“It would depend on the level of toxicity and how bad it is,” he said. “The (federal Environmental Protection Agency) normally takes the lead on cleaning up contaminated sites.

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Information from: New Hampshire Union Leader, http://www.unionleader.com

AP-ES-06-28-06 1149EDT