Cleaning up a water retention pool that is the last remaining structure at the former Kuhlman Diecasting plant will cost the county more than seven times what was originally estimated, county commissioners learned Thursday.
Instead of the $50,000 originally estimated, commissioners were told the last important bit of cleanup at the site will be closer to $385,000 to fill in the pool with eleven to twelve feet of dirt.
Ultimately, the majority of commissioners decided to set that money aside because of the impact a contaminated pond could have on a future park and the Blue River floodplain.
The site has been abandoned since the 1990s
The news was an unexpected snag in efforts to remediate the abandoned plant site that has been an eyesore and health hazard for years just south of 159th Street and Mission Road.
Crews began razing the main building in 2022 and park district officials are studying use of the land along the Blue River as a possible trail-connecting point.
The Kuhlman plant was a metal plating facility until the 1990s, when the business went into bankruptcy. The property is still privately owned.
The idle premises began its decay after the bankruptcy, later becoming an Environmental Protection Agency superfund cleanup site because of toxic chemicals left behind in the building and surrounding settling pools.
It also became a magnet for children from nearby schools and hobbyists with an interest in abandoned buildings and the paranormal.
Contaminated water remains in the final structure
The EPA spent over $2 million cleaning the site, and the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment spent $330,00 in recent cleanup efforts.
Johnson County, in turn, spent $725,000 for demolition and abatement.
After all that, the north process water basin, an iron-fenced concrete retention pond, remained as the last structure.
The normally dry pond had cyanide and elevated levels of metals, including chromium, copper and zinc when it was tested in 1992, according to an overview of the project submitted to the commission by Jared Coleman, a member of the Heartland Conservation Alliance board.
It wasn’t used for about 30 years. But crews were given permission by the state health department to use it again in 2022 to store water removed from underground vaults at the site, Coleman’s overview said.
Contractors pumped more than 84,000 gallons of contaminated water from the vaults into the north pool, as heavy rains continued to refill the vaults, the report said.
The county has so far not taken ownership of the land
In past discussions, commissioners have been urged to take ownership of the property, which is about 35 acres and the last asset to be liquidated under the bankruptcy.
Commissioners declined to support that idea, saying they didn’t want to push the park district into owning it before officials there were ready.
The Kuhlman site was only recently added to the park district’s Legacy Plan of priorities.
On Thursday, Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick emphasized that the property is still privately owned.
“It is an unfortunate result of a business that went bankrupt and really left the community holding the bag by not cleaning up, literally leaving a giant mess behind,” Hanzlick said.
“It’s concerning how much the price of remediating the pool has gone up,” she said.
“This is a moral issue … an equity issue”
Commissioner Becky Fast said cleanup and development of the land has an importance beyond parks and trails.
The Blue River basin is one of the top priority waterways in the nation, she said, adding 500,000 people are impacted by flooding on the river.
Therefore, stormwater management and water quality should be a high priority, she said.
“The majority of the rain that falls into the metropolitan area in Kansas City falls into the Blue River,” she said.
“We have increased rain events every year,” Fast continued. “Next year we could have a huge flash flood event and 500,000 people would be impacted.”
Improving the river basin would also help struggling neighborhoods along the floodplain, she said, becoming choked up as she spoke.
“To me this is a moral issue, it’s an equity issue,” because 60% of the people in the Blue River watershed are in Johnson County. “I’m very passionate about this and I know there’s been a lot of politics around this. I think that’s really sad because there are so many people impacted by this watershed.”
A new “jewel” in the county park system?
Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara said safety is also an issue since the area is already being explored by the public. The county should make the area a “jewel” in the park system, she said.
Commissioner Jeff Meyers suggested the county set aside the $385,000 while staff explore additional funding possibilities.
“I don’t think that property ever gets developed — parkland or otherwise — unless that pool is removed and remediated,” Meyers said.
Fast said that show of commitment would help the county find grant money for the project.
Commissioners ultimately voted 6-1 in favor, with Commissioner Michael Ashcraft voting against.
