Superfund Sites in Reuse in Kansas
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29th & Mead Ground Water Contamination
The 1,440-acre 29th & Mead Ground Water Contamination Superfund site is located in north-central Wichita, Kansas. The site has been in industrial use since 1887. Former uses include vehicle construction. Since 1949, Coleman and later York have built residential furnace and air conditioning units at the site. Federal and state agencies began investigating contamination in area groundwater in 1983. Studies found several possible sources at the site. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1990. The site’s potentially responsible parties are cleaning up the site. Cleanup includes groundwater treatment, removing contaminated soil and using heat to remove contaminant vapors from soil. EPA is working with the site owner to ensure contaminated vapors are not present in buildings above the groundwater contamination. EPA deleted the site from the NPL in 1996. Industrial manufacturing activities continue at the site.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on 3 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 1,350 people and generated an estimated $253,052,872 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
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Ace Services
The 2.5-acre Ace Services Superfund site is located in Colby, Kansas. From 1969 to 1989, a chrome-plating facility operated on site. Its operations contaminated structures, soil and groundwater. In 1992, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment coordinated the removal of wastes from the plating shop building. In 1994, an EPA removal action cleaned up additional contaminated soils, concrete and structures. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1995. In 2003, site stakeholders built a groundwater treatment plant and installed extraction wells to treat chromium contamination in groundwater. Groundwater cleanup is ongoing. The city of Colby uses the treatment plant building for office space and storage.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
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Big River Sand Co.
The 123-acre Big River Sand Co. Superfund site is in Wichita, Kansas. During the 1970s, operators disposed of drums of paint-related waste on site next to a sand quarry lake. In 1978, the Big River Sand Company bought 80 acres of the site property. The company began sand-and-gravel mining operations on site. A state-led investigation in 1982 confirmed that many of the drums on site were damaged, corroded and leaking. Further studies found solvents and heavy metals in nearby residential wells. From 1982 to 1984, the state provided oversight of the property owner’s removal and cleanup activities. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1986. In 1988, EPA determined that soil and groundwater cleanup required no further action. EPA took the site off the NPL in 1992. A sand quarry and a junkyard currently operate on site. A few homes and offices are also located on site.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on one on-site business. This business employed 5 people and generated an estimated $4,907,000 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
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Cherokee County 
Cherokee CountyThe 115-square-mile Cherokee County Superfund site is located in Cherokee County, Kansas. Starting in the mid-1800s, hard rock mining took place on the site. When mining ended in 1970, large piles of mining wastes remained. These wastes led to contamination of soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater with heavy metals. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. EPA cleanup is focused on consolidation and disposal of the wastes to reduce human and ecological exposures. Over 800 residential yards have been cleaned up. Over 500 homes have been connected to alternate sources of drinking water. EPA monitors ongoing operation and maintenance efforts for the many remedies now in place across the site. EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) supported a regional seed project at the site to explore land use opportunities. The project focused on agricultural and alternative energy potential. Site uses are primarily agricultural. The 12-acre Work Area #1 at the site is used by the landowner for farming cash crops like wheat and soybeans. In the future, this area could also be used for production of livestock forage, as pasture/rangeland, or as habitat for pollinators and other key ecosystem species. More than 2,700 acres of the site have been restored as agricultural, livestock use and wildlife habitat. In addition, residential, commercial and light industrial land uses have continued on site throughout cleanup.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on 247 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 3,095 people and generated an estimated $583,943,500 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
For more information:
- Reuse and the Benefit to Community: A Beneficial Effects Economic Case Study for the Cherokee County Superfund Site (PDF)(234 pp, 9.1 MB)
- Site Redevelopment Profile for the Cherokee County Superfund Site (PDF)(3 pp, 2.2 MB, About PDF)
- Cherokee County, Cherokee County, KS - Reuse Plan (PDF) (17 pp, 1.7 MB)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Container Recycling, Inc - Kansas City
The Container Recycling, Inc - Kansas City site is located in Kansas City, Kansas. A drum-recycling facility used to be located on site. EPA removed over 60,000 drums from the site and covered the ground with crushed limestone. In 1997, a local business redeveloped the site. Today, the former facility is used to store shipping containers as well as make, recycle and reuse wooden shipping pallets.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on one on-site business. This business employed 16 people and generated an estimated $2,000,000 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
For more information:
- Protecting Public Health Through Time-Sensitive Cleanups: Cleanup, Redevelopment and Continued Used of Removal Action Sites in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (PDF)(13 pp, 3.1 MB)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Doepke Disposal (Holliday)
The 80-acre Doepke Disposal (Holliday) Superfund site is in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. From 1952 to 1970, the former landfill received residential and industrial trash. Following closure of the landfill in 1970, waste rock materials from construction of Interstate Highway 435 were disposed of at the site. Former waste disposal practices contaminated groundwater at the site. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. Cleanup included construction of a multi-layer cap over the waste disposal area and groundwater monitoring. EPA also placed land use and site access restrictions on the site. A bulk fueling facility and a refuse drop-off convenience center currently operate on site.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on one on-site business. EPA did not have further economic details related to this business. For additional information click here.
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Kansas City Sanitary Landfill
The nearly 42-acre Kansas City Sanitary Landfill site, also known as the John Garland Park Landfill, is in Kansas City, Kansas. The site operated as a sanitary landfill and a model landfill training facility from 1972 until 1974. After the landfill closed, the City opened a public park on the site with ball fields, a playground and picnic shelter. The City planned park construction as part of the landfill closure to demonstrate surface reuse of landfills and provide recreational resources to the community. The City closed the park in the 1990s due to community concerns about health and safety. Cleanup included maintaining the final cover over landfill waste, monitoring groundwater and landfill gas, and improving the venting of landfill gas. EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Initiative supported a regional seed project to develop a reuse suitability assessment at the site in 2010. The project helped lay out the necessary steps to support recreational reuse of the site. Local major league soccer team Sporting KC has helped construct futsal courts in 12 locations across the metropolitan Kansas City area. One such court is on site at Garland Park, where area adults and youth can now play and practice soccer on a smaller, hard-surfaced court. Other recreational amenities at the site include a walking track and playground equipment.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
For more information:
Kansas City Structural Steel
Kansas City Structural SteelThe 22-acre Kansas City Structural Steel site is located in Kansas City, Kansas. Companies smelted silver ore and made steel products at the site for more than a century. Industrial activities from the steel plant contaminated soil with heavy metals, including lead. Cleanup took place from 1990 to 1995. Under EPA oversight, the site’s potentially responsible party led the cleanup. In 2013, the Lane4 Property Group approached the property owner, neighborhood leaders and EPA with plans to redevelop the site. The developer broke ground on the La Plaza Argentine shopping center in 2014. The shopping center includes a big box grocery and retail store and room for additional retail. Also, in 2014, EPA presented the Region’s Leading Environmentalism and Forwarding Sustainability (LEAFS) Award to the store and the Argentine Neighborhood Development Association, recognizing their leadership and redevelopment success. In June 2016, the Kansas Department of Corrections broke ground on a new police station at the site. The new Kansas City South Patrol Police Substation opened on site in 2017.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on 2 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 115 people and generated an estimated $12,822,000 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
For more information:
- Protecting Public Health Through Time-Sensitive Cleanups: Cleanup, Redevelopment and Continued Used of Removal Action Sites in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (PDF)(13 pp, 3.1 MB)
- Redevelopment Opportunity Sites: Kansas City Commercial Properties (PDF)(1 pg, 626 K)
- Reuse and the Benefit to Community: Kansas City Structural Steel Site (PDF)(9 pp, 2 MB)
- Redevelopment of the Kansas City Structural Steel Site (PDF) (2 pp, 1.6 MB)
- A New Community Gateway: Commercial Redevelopment at a Former Smelter - Kansas City Structural Steel Site in Kansas City, Kansas(12 pp, 6 MB)
- News Release: Kansas City Structural Steel Superfund Site in Kansas City, Kan., Set for Redevelopment
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Osage Metal Company
The 1.8-acre Osage Metal Company site is located in Kansas City, Kansas. A metal salvage business was formerly located on site. Emptying of transformers and batteries on site resulted in contamination of soils. EPA led cleanup efforts. EPA removed and treated, or disposed of, nearly 12,000 tons of contaminated soil. In 1999, a business bought the site property after signing a prospective purchaser agreement with EPA. The company designs, markets and makes textiles for medical and consumer needs.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on 2 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 82 people and generated an estimated $15,596,000 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
For more information:
- Protecting Public Health Through Time-Sensitive Cleanups: Cleanup, Redevelopment and Continued Used of Removal Action Sites in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (PDF)(13 pp, 3.1 MB)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
PCB Inc - Kansas
The PCB Inc. – Kansas site is located in Kansas City, Kansas. EPA cleanup addressed removal of asbestos-contaminated building materials, removal of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) materials and cleanup of the building prior to demolition. EPA disposed of removed wastes and the building demolition materials in landfills appropriate for the level of contamination. Following building removal, EPA also removed contaminated soils and backfilled excavation areas as well as the footprint of the former building with clean fill. Today, a paved parking lot is located on the site.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
For more information:
- Protecting Public Health Through Time-Sensitive Cleanups: Cleanup, Redevelopment and Continued Used of Removal Action Sites in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (PDF)(13 pp, 3.1 MB)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Southwest Plating Co Inc
The Southwest Plating Inc. site is located in Kansas City, Kansas. Three businesses operated in a building at the site. The businesses included a machine shop, a refrigerant recovery business and a metal plating shop. A fire destroyed the building. Water from fire control and heavy rain spread chemicals that had been stored in the building. Water carried contamination to a residential property next to the site. EPA removed the contaminated soil from the residential property. EPA also treated contaminated water and disposed of other contaminated debris and soil at the site. Today, an adjacent business uses the site as a parking lot.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on one on-site business. EPA did not have further economic details related to this business. For additional information click here.
For more information:
- Protecting Public Health Through Time-Sensitive Cleanups: Cleanup, Redevelopment and Continued Used of Removal Action Sites in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (PDF)(13 pp, 3.1 MB)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Tri-County Public Airport
The 3.5-square-mile Tri-County Public Airport site is located in Morris County, Kansas. The area was known as the Herington Army Air Field (HAAF) during World War II. The HAAF was deactivated in 1946. From 1950 to the early 1960s, Beech Aircraft (Beech) leased four hangars and several other buildings at the site. As part of its manufacturing operations at the site, Beech used degreasers and chromic acid solutions. In 1980, the Raytheon Aircraft Company acquired Beech. Manufacturing operations contaminated groundwater and soils with trichloroethylene (TCE) and its breakdown products. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered site contamination between 1994 and 1996 while investigating petroleum contamination associated with former HAAF operations. TCE was discovered in groundwater. EPA proposed the site for listing on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 2000. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) manages cleanup activities, which began in 2000. Activities include private well filtration and connections to the public water supply, source cleanup, and pilot tests and interim remedial measures for groundwater and soil contamination. A final cleanup plan has not yet been selected. Interim soil and groundwater measures continue to operate. Today, the city of Herington owns and operates the Herington Regional Airport at the site, which serves Herington and Morris County. Airport services include aviation fueling, a pilots’ lounge, parking, public phones, hangars and tie-downs. The airport also includes acreage with water, electricity, gas and sewer hook-ups that is available for industrial and commercial purposes.
Last updated September 2019
As of December 2019, EPA had data on one on-site business. EPA did not have further economic details related to this business. For additional information click here.
For more information: