6 May 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — In the wake of an alarming study from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), residents of the 29th Street & Grove area are asking how this could have gone under the radar for more than 30 years.
“It hurt. It hurt like mad,” Treatha Brown-Foster with the Northeast Millair Neighborhood Association said.
Brown-Foster says she’s worked on several community development projects in the area of 29th & Grove over the years—she only found out last September many of those projects were built on contaminated land.
“There’s no way in the world that they could not give us this information to us sooner than now,” Brown-Foster said.
Living near the impacted area since 1985, James Roseboro says given how the area has developed since then, he’s concerned someone knew about this since the 90s and failed to take action.
“Somebody had to do studies there. So I’m thinking something was hid somewhere along the line,” Roseboro said.
Aujanae Bennett, who grew up in the area, says her father died of cancer that spread to his liver. She says discovering contaminated groundwater could have played a role in his death is a devastating blow.
“It saddens me. It angers me. It gives me mixed emotions. When I find out that someone, someone in the legislature knew, yet they said nothing,” Bennett said.
Despite the KDHE’s findings, residents we spoke to are confident city, county and state officials will work to resolve this issue and want someone held accountable.
“Now that we all are aware of it, I’m hoping that we now get some justice and that we make sure that no one else has to die because of the water,” resident Lavonta Williams said.