Replacement of Toomer's Oaks delayed

Auburn University had planned to replace its poisoned oak trees at Toomer's Corner in time for the 2014 football season.

But a member of the university task force overseeing the project said this week it is "very likely" the new trees won't be in the ground until after the upcoming football season.

"There's significant herbicide still present in the soil," said Gary Keever, professor of horticulture, this week. "It just doesn't look like it's going to happen by then because of the extent of the herbicide."

Auburn cut the dying iconic oaks -- long part of the school's football tradition -- in April, after a fan of the school's arch rival, the Alabama Crimson Tide, poisoned them in 2010 with the potent commercial herbicide Spike 80DF.

Harvey Updyke Jr., a retired Texas state trooper, pled guilty to the crime and was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Released on probation, he was also ordered to pay the university $796,732 in restitution. 

At a court-ordered rate of $500 per month, it will take the 65-year-old Updyke more than a century to payoff the debt. 

The university plans to remove the contaminated soil as part of a $1.2 million to $2 million project to redevelop Toomer's Corner and replace the oaks.

Keever said they won't know exactly how much soil must be removed until they begin digging and testing as they go.

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