Sedgwick County Commissioners have given official approval to a contribution of $125,000 to match state funding for health testing in an area of groundwater contamination.
The Wichita City Council had previously approved $125,000 in funding from the city, to be used to match a $1 million appropriation authorized by the Kansas Legislature last year. Private funding will be raised to match the rest of the allocation from the state. In all, the state is providing $2.5 million for health testing for residents in the area of 29th and Grove.
Wichita, Sedgwick County and the Kansas Health Foundation are working on a program to provide immediate and long-term cancer screenings for residents in the contamination area. The contamination is from a Union Pacific railyard, and it involves chemicals including Trichloroethylene (TCE), a solvent commonly used for metal degreasing, that have
contaminated the soil and groundwater, creating a contaminated plume of groundwater that extends approximately 2.9 miles south from the UP railyard to Murdock Avenue.
County Commission Chairman Ryan Baty said throwing money at testing will not be the best approach, and he said there will have to be a systemic change that will equip health clinics and health providers to continue testing and services when the money runs out. He said the county commission will take the lead in ongoing conversations about responding to the 220 active contamination sites in Sedgwick County.
Commissioner Jim Howell said he believes a Kansas Department of Health and Environment report on the 29th and Grove area is misleading and based on bad data, and a better long-term solution is needed for all of the contamination sites.
