The Environmental Assessment and Remediation (EAR) program strives to study, advise and educate all persons on soil, surface water and groundwater quality and quantity issues and policies that will best protect the environment for the citizens and the interests of their communities.
Projects
This program provides technical and administrative support for the Gilbert-Mosley and North Industrial Corridor groundwater projects. Staff operate the Certificate and Release (C&R) of Environmental Liability Program. Applications can be found under Environmental Documents.
The program also investigates soil and groundwater contamination on parcels involved in redevelopment projects or under consideration for purchase by the City, and coordinates routine monitoring of remediate pollution sites.
Public Requests
Staff also responds to public requests for environmental information and processes environmental record reviews upon request.
The program budget is supported by a combination of General Fund and Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district funding.
To request a file search, please refer to the Letter to Requesting Parties.
Letter to Requesting Parties
Gilbert-Mosley Project
"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."
History
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 streets that crossed at the point of the first discovery of the contamination. Since then, investigations have broadened the site boundary to include a total of approximately 3850 acres.
Today
The City of Wichita's Gilbert and Mosley Project includes the 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 remediates 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 10 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 million gallons of groundwater are treated each day.
Certificate of Release Program
The City of Wichita has reestablished the financial lending in the Gilbert-Mosley area through a legal agreement with local lending institutions.
The Agreement states that the institutions will not refuse to lend on the security of real properties located within the Gilbert-Mosley site which are owned or operated by person or entities who have obtained a Certificate of Release for environmental conditions.
Certificates of Release are granted by the City to property owners who have demonstrated through documentation or investigation that they have not contributed to the contamination in the Gilbert-Mosley site.
Certificate & Release Application
North Industrial Corridor
The 29th and Mead site was declared a Superfund site in February 1990. In July 1994 the City of Wichita petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove the 29th and Mead Site from the National Priorities List (NPL) in order to implement a local/state/federal cooperative partnership modeled after the successful strategy employed at the Gilbert-Mosley Site in Wichita, Kansas. This approach utilizes a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district implemented within the site boundaries to generate finances to help fund the investigation and remediation.
On November 14, 1995, the City of Wichita signed a Settlement Agreement with the State of Kansas under which the City agreed to assume responsibility for investigation and developing a cleanup strategy for the NIC Site, if the site was removed from the NPL.
On April 29, 1996, the 29th and Mead site was deleted from the NPL allowing the creation of the North Industrial Corridor site and the TIF district.
Certificate of Release Program
The City of Wichita has reestablished financial lending in the North Industrial Corridor area through a legal agreement with lending institutions.
The Agreement states that the institutions will not refuse to lend on the security of real properties located within the North Industrial Corridor site which are owned or operated by person or entities who have obtained a Certificate of Release for environmental conditions.
Certificates of Release are granted by the City to property owners who have demonstrated through documentation or investigation that they have not contributed to the contamination in the North Industrial Corridor sites.
Certificate of Release Application
Tri-State/Harcros Source Area
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is working with the City of Wichita to clean up groundwater and soil at the former Tri-State Laundry and Dry-Cleaner Supply Company (724 E. Osie) and the Harcros Chemical Supply Company (727 E. Osie), known as the Tri-State/Harcos site. The City of Wichita expects to begin cleanup activities in early 2006 at the Tri-State/Harcros site.
Tri-State and Harcros were identified as significant sources of groundwater and soil contamination during the Gilbert-Mosley site investigation. Contamination oin the Gilbert-Mosley site consists primarily of chlorinated solvents, mostly trichlorethene (TCE) and perchloroethene (PCE). The Gilbert-Mosley site is an area of contaminated groundwater located in downtown Wichita, Kansas. This site has multiple sources and contaminated with comingled contaminant plumes, and is being remediated under a Consent Agreement between the City of Wichita and the State of Kansas. Contaminated groundwater from the site is currently being remediated via a treatment plant located down gradient from the sources. Cleanup activities at the Tri-State/Harcros site will address sources of the groundwater contamination as well as contaminated soil on site.
