Wichita to Dig for Toxic Source in Landfill
According to a story appearing in The Wichita Eagle, a consulting company hired by the city says it has found the spot where the toxic trash is buried. In January, the city plans to dig up part of cell B, where 140 million pounds of trash were buried in the late 1960s.
The toxic trash is thought to be in a 40-square-foot area, about 20 feet underground at the bottom of the landfill.
Steve Lackey, the director of public works for the city, said, "We are only guessing but we think it will be some barrels that could have been buried a long time ago."
Brooks Landfill opened in 1966, four years before the creation of the U.S. EPA and 10 years before the U.S. Congress passed laws governing the disposal of hazardous waste.
However, under environmental law, companies can be forced to pay to clean up pollution they caused even if their actions were legal at the time. So Lackey is hoping that the unearthing will produce a company name. However, even should the perpetrator remain unidentified, the city, by finding the leaking barrels and removing them, could stop the pollution and shave years and millions of dollars from the cleanup, Lackey said.
The city spent U.S.$3.5 million cleaning up pollution at Brooks, including the $350,000 budgeted for the barrel search and removal.
The city expects to spend another $7.5 million during the next 30 years pumping the contaminated water out of the ground and treating it.
To pay for the project, the city raised trash rates in January 1997. Each household in Sedgwick County now pays an extra $6.60 a year for trash disposal.
Edited by Paul Hersch