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Douglas County approves temporary borrow pit and clean‑rubble landfill permits for K‑10 expansion
Summary
On Jan. 15 the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners approved two conditional use permits — a borrow pit and a clean‑rubble landfill — to support the K‑10 highway expansion. Permits are limited to the K‑10 project, run five years and include conditions meant to protect drainage to Clinton Lake and utilities in the area.
The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 15 approved two conditional use permits to allow a borrow pit and a clean‑rubble landfill to serve the K‑10 highway expansion project.
City‑county planner Mary Miller told the commission the applications covered excavation (a borrow pit) and a clean‑rubble landfill, and that state regulators consider the proposal clean rubble rather than a general solid‑waste landfill. "State statutes do not require a solid waste permit for operation of a site that accepts only clean rubble," Miller said. Planning staff and the planning commission recommended approval subject to conditions intended to limit community and environmental impacts.
The planning report and public discussion focused on drainage that ultimately leads to Clinton Lake, truck routing during the construction phase, and utility easements across the site. The applicant, contract purchaser Kingston Construction, told commissioners they expect truck traffic to vary with construction activity and to operate from sunrise to sunset; a staff slide estimated truck counts "0 to 100 trucks a day" at different phases. Commissioners and staff stressed that KDOT will build and maintain the truck route during construction and will turn the road over to the appropriate governing body (city, county or township) after the highway work is finished.
KDHE (Kansas Department of Health and Environment) told staff the materials proposed meet the state definition of clean rubble and that KDHE does not require a solid‑waste permit for sites receiving only clean rubble. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flagged the possibility that asphalt treated with certain chemicals could transport contaminants in overland runoff; the applicant agreed to a planning commission condition banning asphalt in the southern (downstream) landfill area rather than test all asphalt for chemicals.
Zoning and codes director Tanya Voigt said enforcement of the material restrictions would be complaint‑driven and by site inspection: "if we were to either get a complaint or happen to be driving by and we identified that there was material ... outside of what's permitted in [a] clean rubble landfill, we would notify the developer and/or applicant immediately, and we would have them actually remove that content," she said.
The planning commission added conditions requiring a five‑year time limit on the permits (with a possible extension request), maintenance of tree lines to reduce dust, a surety/reclamation bond for the borrow pit, staking of setbacks, a required load study where access crosses a Southern Star easement and a prohibition on using the sites for anything other than the K‑10 expansion project. Planning staff said reclamation plans show contours returned to grass and that the sites would be reclaimed to agricultural use until such time as annexation and development occur.
Commissioner Reid moved to approve CUP 24‑1010 (landfill) and CUP 24‑1011 (mining/excavation/borrow pit) based on the staff reports and subject to the listed conditions with specified exceptions; both motions were seconded and carried. The county recorded no roll‑call vote names in the meeting transcript; the motions passed in voice votes recorded as "Aye".
Next steps listed by staff: finalization and publication of the resolutions, submittal of erosion/stormwater control documents (SWPPP/NOI) where required, completion of any required load studies and easement adjustments with Southern Star, posting of surety/reclamation bonds and release of plans to zoning and codes for permit issuance and inspections. Reclamation and certificate‑of‑completion triggers must be met before a site begins operation as proposed.
Ending: Commissioners and staff said they would monitor the sites through zoning and codes inspections and through KDHE and KDOT processes. If neighbors or others have concerns, Tanya Voigt said residents should continue to file complaints with the zoning and codes office so staff can inspect and enforce the CUP conditions.
