One may be considered a “lemon.” The other is an important part of Selma’s economy.

At Monday night’s Selma City Council meeting, Mayor James Perkins Jr. and council discussed a looming contamination problem under a building currently owned by the city of Selma. The city approved spending $25,000 to have the contamination studied. It could cost Selma another $500,000 to have the contamination cleaned after an order from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management found problems under the old All Lock building.

In a story on the contamination, the building was repeatedly referred to as the Honda building, and at one point said Honda officials knew about the contamination problem.

The history of the All Lock building does have Honda ties. However, it was not owned by Honda when it was sold to the city. Honda currently operates another lock-producing facility in Selma — called Honda Locks of America.

“That company has been an excellent corporate citizen,” said Perkins, who fielded numerous calls about the error in the Times-Journal. “They offer a steady employment base in our community and they’re a great company to have around.”

Wayne Vardaman, executive director of the Selma-Dallas County Economic Development Authority, echoed Perkins’ praise of the Honda company.

“They’re an important company to Selma and an important company to the automotive industry, especially with the expansion of the Honda plant,” Vardaman said.

HLA, which is not tied to the old All Lock building, has no contamination problems. However, the ones under the All Lock building have caused some concern in the city. Two chlorine products that were once used to de-grease metal plates, have been found underneath the All Lock building. ADEM then discovered that those two chemicals have spread away from the building.

That spreading caused ADEM to offer a directive forcing the city of Selma to spend $25,000 on a study and possibly $500,000 on the clean-up.