The testing was carried out by a private contractor after WorkSafe Victoria visited the site on February 6 and issued an Improvement Notice to the Ararat Cemetery Trust.

The visit was prompted by concerns from cemetery staff that a patch of ground had never grown grass.

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The testing has now revealed the soil is contaminated with cyanide, arsenic, lead, nickle, and more, said Ararat Cemetery Trust Chair Bill Jones.

"It (the report) shows a whole range of traces of hydrocrabon which could have come from coal, used in making gas," he said.

"They are the result of an industrial process. The report doesn't conclude one way or the other where that contamination has come from, but it has obviously been brought to the site and spread."

The area known to be effected has been fenced off since WorkSafe Victoria's visit, and will remain so while further tests and analyses are conducted to determine the level and extent of the contamination, which may be within acceptable safety levels.

"It's hard to get a measure on how far into the soil these materials go," Mr Jones said.

"There will need be more testing done in terms of checking to see how far this problem has spread, and whether over time there has been movement of some of the material by water and wind."

Mr Jones said WorkSafe Victoria will work with Environment Protection Authority Victoria to determine the next steps if the contamination is found to impact a wider area of the cemetery, or be past safe levels.

"There are a whole lot of variables there," Mr Jones said.

However, Mr Jones said it was unlikely any graves would need to be disturbed.

"What I believe is likely is that we will have to take soil away - it may be 30 centimetres, it may be less ... and then refill," he said.

"If there is evidence of contamination further down, then it may be that we remove the top layer and fill the section of the site, and declare it a no dig area. That's a possibility if testing demands that.

"It may be that the area that we are working on at the moment will be enlarged because we find some further contamination."

Mr Jones said that would not necessarily impact the functioning of the cemetery as it was an old and "full" section of the cemetery, which was unlikely to receive new burials.

He also said that few people would be impacted by the fenced off area.

"The people it might affect are people who want to put a monument on an unmarked grave," he said.

"The other people it may affect are people who are coming here to look at an ancestor's grave."

Mr Jones said there was minimal risk to people who wanted to visit the rest of the cemetery.

"The risk for people would be if they decide they want to disturb the soil," he said.

"Now that we've had a little bit of rain and limited dust, the risk is probably minimal. The real risk will be if there is disturbance of soil in and around that area.

"Once the (WorkSafe) hygienists have given us some advice, we may choose to enlarge the area that we've got cordoned off."

It will be a costly but necessary exercise, one which the Cemetery Trust may need to cover through grant money, Mr Jones said.

A WorkSafe Victoria spokeswoman said WorkSafe was aware of the situation and was making enquiries.

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