Some want 29th and Grove contamination site cleanup to move faster

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A Kansas State Representative is making a push to get federal money to help clean up the 29th and Grove contamination site.

The site, located in northeast Wichita, is being cleaned up, but State Representative Ford Carr (D) wants it to move faster. He’s trying to rally other lawmakers to get federal money to make it happen.

“I want it to be a superfund cleanup site,” said Carr.

Carr grew up in the area near 29th and Grove.

He says the plan by the State of Kansas is not moving fast enough to keep possible new exposures from happening in the area to trichloroethylene or TCE’s.

“I’m definitely concerned now, and I’m worried because I couldn’t count the number of summer days back here in this wooded area,” said Carr as he recalled playing in the area as a child.

While Carr is asking for superfund status to bring in federal money to clean up groundwater and soil, he is not alone.

U.S. Congressional Member Ron Estes sent a letter to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly back in November of 2022 asking about money to move the cleanup along.

In that letter, Estes says once assessments and findings on health impacts are complete, his office would be glad to offer federal assistance.

KSN reached out to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to see what steps would be needed to get superfund status and federal monies for the 29th and Grove site.

An EPA response says there is a ranking system that comes into play for superfund status. The EPA tells KSN to reach superfund status, the 29th and Grove site would have to be listed on the NPL or National Priorities List.

The response from the EPA says, in part, that “The NPL is a list of sites identified for long-term cleanup. Sites are listed on the NPL upon completion of Hazard Ranking System (HRS) screening and a public comment period about the proposed site addition through the Federal Register. The HRS is the primary method used to place sites on the NPL. The HRS is a scoring system that is used to assess the relative risk associated with actual – or potential – releases of hazardous substances from a site based on information that can be collected in a preliminary assessment and site inspection.”

The response goes on to say that “The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has the lead on technical oversight for the clean-up of this site performed by Union Pacific Railroad. KDHE consulted with EPA in January 2023 before issuing the final corrective action decision for the site on February 2, 2023.”

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) says Union Pacific is in the process of a roughly $19 million cleanup of an identified spill site at a rail yard that dates back to either the 1970s or 1980s. That process includes removing six feet of dirt at the spill site on the rail yard and remediation wells for groundwater in the area.

Meanwhile, Carr says he will continue to seek out federal superfund status.

“I’ve been engaged in conversations with other state senators. I will again speak to the Governor,” said Carr. “How many people may have been exposed? It’s time to get this cleaned up.”