PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday announced the second wave of approximately $1 billion in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to start new cleanup projects at 22 Superfund sites, including the Caney Residential Yards in Southeast Kansas, and to expedite over 100 other ongoing cleanups across the country.
Historically, two smelters were located and operated in Caney, Kansas, in Montgomery County from approximately 1904 to 1922. The American Zinc, Lead and Smelting (AZLS) Company Smelter operated in Caney at the site of the current high school building. The Owens Zinc Company (OZC) operated in Caney between 1915 and 1931. Caney also had two separate brick manufacturing plants during the same timeframe as the smelter operations. Smelter deposition and manual relocation of waste resulted in contaminated properties within the city of Caney, according to the EPA.
To date, the EPA has sampled 1,041 residential properties in Caney, with 344 qualifying for and completed remediation of the yard due to lead contamination in the soil greater than 400 parts per million. In the Caney Residential Yards Site, only 32 residential properties remain that have not been sampled.
Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed, including in manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills, and mining sites. Superfund cleanups help transform contaminated properties and create jobs in overburdened communities, while repurposing these sites for a wide range of uses, including public parks, retail businesses, office space, residences, warehouses, and solar power generation, the EPA said in a press release. In addition, these sites can support natural areas, parks, and recreation facilities, providing greenspace and safe places for families to play outside.
“Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we are moving faster than ever before to progress cleanup at contaminated sites — from manufacturing facilities to landfills — in communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “But our work is not yet finished — we’re continuing to build on this momentum to ensure that communities living near many of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination finally get the investments and protections they deserve.”
Meg McCollister, administrator for EPA Region 7, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and nine tribal nations, also commented on the funding announcement.
“This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enables crews in our Region to begin new construction at three Superfund sites in Kansas,” McCollister said. “Cleaning up sites throughout Region 7 helps ensure that we continue to protect the environment and the health of residents in our nation’s heartland.”
Besides the Caney Residential Yards site, two others out of the 22 Superfund sites included in Friday’s announcement are located in Kansas: 57th and North Broadway Streets in Wichita and Plating Inc. in Great Bend.
“We’re excited to receive this funding so we can begin — or accelerate — work to prepare these sites in Kansas for construction,” said EPA Region 7 Superfund and Emergency Management Division Director Bob Jurgens. “Our teams are committed to the EPA mission to protect human health and the environment through cleaning up the contaminated soil and groundwater.”
The $1 billion investment announced Friday is the second wave of funding from the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With the first wave of funding announced in December 2021, EPA deployed over $1 billion for cleanup activities at over 100 Superfund National Priorities List sites across the country.
