Postponed from Oct. 2 on fears of a possible U.S. government shutdown, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives from EPA Region 7 will give a report on the Plating Inc. Superfund cleanup efforts to the Great Bend City Council on Monday, Nov. 6, City Administrator Brandon Anderson said. Dating back 35 years, the remediation project near the Great Bend Municipal Airport one and half miles west of town is expected to begin this fall.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Great Bend City Hall, 1209 Williams St. According to the EPA, following the presentation, representatives from EPA and state partner agencies will be available to talk with community members to address their questions and concerns.
“This will be an update only,” Anderson said. “There will be a non-action item.”
Over the next several months, EPA will be conducting cleanup work under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund. In April 2023, Plating Inc. was one of three Superfund sites in Kansas on the National Priorities List to receive funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to begin or expedite cleanup projects.
“In April, EPA Region 7 representatives traveled to Wichita to celebrate the second round of funding for Superfund sites from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said EPA Region 7
With roots in 1988, this is a former chromium and zinc plating facility at 8801 W. 8801 West Sixth St. Chemicals, including hexavalent chromium, from the now-defunct business have contaminated the surrounding groundwater and are the subject of an ongoing cleanup effort.
Working with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, an EPA-approved cleanup plan is expected to be implemented this fall.
Over the next several months, EPA will be conducting cleanup work under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund, said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. In April 2023, Plating Inc. was one of three Superfund sites in Kansas on the National Priorities List (NPL) to receive funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to begin or expedite cleanup projects.
The Plating Inc. Superfund Site dates back to 1988 and sits within the airport industrial area in Barton County, 1½ miles west of Great Bend. An inspection from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment determined that 6,400 gallons of chromic acid was on-site in 2007, along with other acids and hydroxides.
The secondary containment was inadequate and chromic acid was found to have discharged into the soil, the EPA reported. A two-mile-long groundwater plume of hexavalent chromium has impacted domestic water wells and is moving toward Great Bend’s public water supply wells.
EPA has selected remedial designs for addressing the soil and groundwater contamination.
