The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, will direct more than $7 million in its reserve waste water treatment funds in order to successfully remove 65,000 tons of contaminated soil from the Kaw Point treatment plant, commissioners unanimously decided last week.
Jeff Miles, director of environmental services, told commissioners during a recent board meeting that the soil needs to be removed from the site immediately to avoid $18,000 weekly fines that any delays would prompt.
The government must move and properly dispose of the soil, as well as test the site for remaining contaminated materials, over the course of three-to-four months in accordance with plans approved by the state health department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The soil, stockpiled for generations near the Kaw Point Wastewater Treatment Plant from construction projects and other sources, contains contaminated, although not necessarily toxic, materials aggregated from area rivers and construction materials. It will likely be used as infill at an area landfill…