The property owner doesn't know who put up the signs. The source of the smelly substance coming out of the spring -- whether it's diesel or gasoline or something else -- is also a mystery.

”It’s not really a fire hazard; it’s more of a problem for DNR or EPA,” said Springfield Fire Marshal Bill Spence, who visited the site with a reporter on Wednesday.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad owns the property but the City of Springfield and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources have a long history with the area.

"Most recently, sampling has revealed that contamination at this point is gasoline,” said Carrie Lamb, a storm water technician for the City of Springfield.

Lamb says that's beyond the city's means. It's sure to be a long process of cleanup, one that her office has had to pass on to DNR.

DNR says it started investigating the rail yard area after a citizen's complaints in 2000. The department says it was only made aware of the spring problem this past June and, since then, the process has been underway to get to the bottom of it.

"It's an industrial part of town; there are numerous potential sources that we are looking into," said Cindy Davis of DNR's regional office in Springfield. "They'll do a variety of things. They'll look into dye tracing; they will look into our underground storage tank databases to see if there's current or historical tanks that could be a potential issue."

That property is owned by the railroad but no one seems to know how long the spring has been there.

Loring Bullard, director of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, says this is not drinking water but Jordan Creek eventually ends up in Table Rock Lake. Bullard also says springs are normally an early indicator and, if there is a problem with a spring, it is normally indicative of a deeper groundwater problem. Its director says, no doubt, it will likely be a long and involved process to find the source and get it cleaned up.