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Gilbert and Mosley Project
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 "The Gilbert & Mosley Project is considered to be one of the most innovative public-private partnerships ever created to solve the complex environmental problem of groundwater contamination. This project has earned the City of Wichita national recognition for its development to avoid Superfund intervention and the impacts upon public health, environmental risks and the local economy."
Former City of Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans - October 16, 2003 |
In 1991, routine testing of the groundwater detected contamination in the vicinity of downtown Wichita. The 2600-acre area discovered was dubbed the “Gilbert-Mosley Site” as these were the two streets that crossed at the point of first discovery of the contamination. Since then, investigations have broadened the site boundary to include a total of approximately 3850 acres.
Preliminary tests found the groundwater contaminated with varying concentrations of tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene (TCE), dichloroethene (DCE), vinyl chloride, and additional contaminants. Wichita’s groundwater was contaminated with these chlorinated solvents as a result of historical industrial activities in the area.
The City of Wichita's Gilbert and Mosley Project includes the construction and operation of a groundwater treatment system, an environmental education building, a plaza area, and several site improvement items in Herman Hill Park. The groundwater treatment system is designed to remediate large volumes of groundwater that have been contaminated by various chlorinated solvents (PCE, TCE, DCE, and VC), and the remediation system includes the operation of 13 extraction wells, 5.5 miles of piping, and a hydraulic-venturi air stripper treatment system. The treatment system has been in continuous operations since December 2002, and approximately 1.2 million gallons of groundwater are treated each day.
The construction efforts for the Phase I treatment building, Phase II environmental education building and plaza area, and Phase III park improvement items (parking lots, berms, irrigation system, meandering creek, etc.) are nearing completion in Herman Hill Park (located southwest of the intersection of Broadway and Pawnee), and the City of Wichita's Department of Environmental Health is administering the project. CDM is designing and constructing the various project items, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is providing regulatory oversight of the treatment system activities.
The treatment building, environmental education building, and park improvements are collectively referred to as the Wichita Area Treatment, Education, Remediation Center (WATER Center), and the Grand Opening ceremony for the WATER Center was held on October 16, 2003. The ribbon cutting ceremony was performed by Mayor Carlos Mayans, Ron Hammerschmidt (Director of Environment for KDHE), Jack Brown (Director of the City of Wichita's Department of Environmental Health), Monte Markley (CDM), and Greg Tice (Gossen Livingston Associates), and various environmental education sessions were conducted during the Grand Opening. These environmental education efforts will continue in the future as the construction efforts are completed later this year.
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