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KDHE says contamination cleanups and orphan sites need more funding; citizen appeals call for CAFO moratorium
Summary
KDHE outlined rising costs and staffing needs to address orphan contamination sites and highlighted the Burton chloride plume as a possible staged project; a public commenter from Ottawa County urged a moratorium on new large CAFO permits while statutes are changed to protect groundwater.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) director Kate Gleason told the task force that contamination remediation remains a high‑cost, labor‑intensive area of need.
“We've been getting about $3,000,000 the last few years for that,” Gleason said, noting the agency previously received about $1–1.5 million. She said cleanup of orphan sites typically costs between $500,000 and $1.5 million, with some projects estimated far higher; KDHE has reduced a backlog of 144 orphan sites to about 135 since 2022.
Gleason singled out the Burton chloride plume (northwest of Wichita) as a multi‑stage remediation challenge and said KDHE has sought federal and private grants to supplement state dollars. The agency said a $5 million plus‑up could allow KDHE to make a meaningful staged start on Burton while also advancing other remediation work.
In public comment, Catherine Sharpless of Ottawa County described a large swine facility permit issued by KDHE and said statutory gaps prevent KDHE from requiring soil sampling or depth‑to‑groundwater reviews for fields where exported manure will be applied. “KDHE's hands are tied by the statutes,” she said, and asked the task force to urge the legislature to enact a moratorium on new large CAFO permits (above roughly 1,000 animal units) while statutes are revised to give KDHE greater preventive authority.
KDHE and other agencies urged that some remediation and demonstration projects (for example reservoir dredging trials and major plume responses) require multi‑year state commitments and cannot be judged solely by single‑year metrics. KDHE warned that additional funding would also require expanded staff capacity to manage increased contracting and monitoring workloads.
What’s next: KDHE asked the task force to consider a phased plus‑up for contamination remediation, and suggested the task force include statutory options that would give regulators more preventive authority over particular spreading fields and export practices.
