Park board approves Union Pacific lease for groundwater treatment building near Murdoch site

The Wichita Park and Recreation Board on April 1 recommended approval of a lease that would allow Union Pacific Railroad and its contractors to install a groundwater treatment building and related extraction wells — described in meeting materials as Transect F — on park commission property south of Murdoch Street.

The board’s recommendation, which passed after a motion to approve “the lease agreement for Transect F as proposed by UPRR and any lease substantially similar to what’s been described,” clears the way for Union Pacific to relocate and expand part of an existing treatment system to a park-owned parcel. The board’s action was a recommendation to advance the lease to the city council and to the city’s lease-negotiation process; the final lease remains subject to city approvals.

Union Pacific and its contractor presented the project as part of a remedial design/remedial action (RD/RA) for a site where tests identified trichloroethylene (TCE) and other volatile organic compounds in shallow soil and groundwater. An unnamed Cadiz visual environmental engineer leading the presentation said the project is in the remedial-action phase and described the treatment chain: extraction wells, pH control, filtration and an air stripper to remove volatile compounds, followed by discharge of treated water. “We have an existing system down here…the transects were placed to reach a municipal and TCE will be removed from the groundwater through a number of different processes,” the Cadiz representative said during the presentation.

Presenters said the system currently targets a discharge to the storm sewer; they characterized the treated water as not processed to drinking-water standards and noted the system’s typical flow rate is about 100 gallons per minute. A Union Pacific representative (Becky, introduced as senior manager of environmental site remediation for Union Pacific) and other project team members answered questions about alternatives and permitting. The presenters said they have tested air, soil and groundwater extensively, are working with the city and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) for permitting and are discussing conveyance, fencing and security needs for the building.

Board members and community liaisons pressed the presenters on whether treated water could be sent to the sanitary sewer or captured for irrigation and park use instead of discharging to the storm system. A community liaison noted staff efforts to avoid siting remediation infrastructure in active park spaces and that the proposed parcel is south of Murdoch and away from existing park amenities. Presenters responded that sanitary discharge would require different approvals, KDHE involvement, and that shallow groundwater at the site is not the deep drinking-water aquifer; they also said some other transects in the larger response include reinjection. “It’s also shallow groundwater. It’s not a part of the aquifer that you would use for drinking. That’s ground water here is around 30 to 40 feet,” a presenter said when explaining reuse constraints.

After discussion about design, location alternatives and the range of permits and agreements required (including a lease and right-of-way use), Board Member Nathan moved to approve the concept and recommend that staff pursue a lease substantially similar to the terms presented; another board member seconded. The motion passed after a roll-call discussion with one member recorded as opposed. Board members asked that staff and legal counsel complete the lease and bring substantially final terms to the city council for approval.

The project team said they will continue design work, pursue agreements with the city for right-of-way and lease terms, and coordinate KDHE approvals for treatment/discharge. The board’s recommendation permits the project team to continue with site design for Transect F at the proposed park parcel; no permanent construction will occur until lease and regulatory approvals are completed.

What’s next: city staff will finalize lease negotiation language and route the lease for city council consideration; the project team will continue design and regulatory coordination with KDHE and city departments.