KDHE Home - Environment - BER - Assessment and Restoration Section
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Henning, Section Chief The Assessment and Restoration Section is responsible for: assessment of closed sanitary landfills and corrective actions at all sanitary landfills; tracking and clean-up at emergency spill response sites; administration of the Kansas Clandestine Drug Lab Cleanup Program, administration of the Drycleaning Facility Release Trust Fund; state oversight of U. S. EPA National Priorities List "Superfund" sites; and state oversight of U. S. Department of Defense sites. The Landfill/Drycleaning Unit is responsible for long-term groundwater monitoring and landfill inspections to comply with post-closure requirements of closed municipal landfills. This unit is responsible for the reviewing and approving corrective action activities to remediate contaminants in the groundwater at open and closed landfills. This unit also conducts inspections and repairs at numerous former municipal dump sites. The City Dump Grant Program is administered to help fund the capping of sites with exposed waste. The grant program provides 100% of the funding to local government entities to complete the closure at these old sites. Only former city dumps are eligible for this program. KDHE's Bureau of Waste Management has responsibilities associated with active municipal solid waste landfills. The Landfill/Drycleaning Unit also administers The Kansas Drycleaning Program which was created by the Drycleaner Environmental Response Act (DERA) in July 1995. The Kansas Drycleaning Program tracks the operation of existing drycleaning facilities and provides corrective action at contaminated sites. Drycleaning facilities must complete an annual registration and remain in compliance with pollution prevention and waste management measures. Random inspections are conducted to ensure compliance with DERA. The Kansas Drycleaning Facility Release Trust Fund (Fund) was created to provide financial assistance to owners or operators of contaminated drycleaning facilities to assist with assessment and corrective action of former and existing dry-cleaning facilities. This unit manages the fund and utilizes an environmental consultant to conduct the assessments and corrective actions. The fund also provides for reimbursement of some past costs related to corrective action at the prioritized sites. The trust fund is financed by a gross receipts fee on drycleaning and laundry services, solvent fee on drycleaning solvents, and annual registration fee paid by the drycleaning facilities. Kansas Clandestine Drug Lab Cleanup Program The Response Unit administers the Kansas Clandestine Drug Lab Cleanup Program which was created by the Kansas Chemical Control Act in 1999. This program provides cleanup services for clandestine drug labs in the State of Kansas; education of law enforcement, first responders, chance encounter occupations, and the general public; a notification requirement for manufactures and distributors of 19 regulated chemicals to report suspicious transactions; and implementation of the Kansas Retailer Meth Watch Program. Clandestine drug labs, such as "meth labs", were the driving force behind creating this program. The program's goals are to help prevent the chemicals used in the production of illegal drugs from contaminating the soils or waters of the state. Unpermitted discharge or accidental spills that may be detrimental to soil or water within the State of Kansas must be reported to the Spills Program within the KDHE Response Unit. The Spill Response Program's primary objective is to insure that containment and immediate environmental remedial measures associated with the discharge or spill are implemented. This task is completed by tracking the progress of all spill response activities and the proper disposal of contaminated material during the cleanup operations. Spills are tracked on a database maintained by the KDHE Response Unit. MERCURY: The Spills Program also provides technical guidance assistance for mercury-related spill projects and response to mercury spills at government entities. Programs have been implemented to reduce the amount of mercury available to the general public. These past programs include a statewide Mercury Collection Program to collect elemental mercury and mercury-containing instruments from homes, schools, city and county governments. The elemental mercury and instruments were brought to collection centers throughout the state. KDHE funded the disposal of the collected material. The reduction of mercury within the state has helped decrease the number of mercury-related spill calls/responses. A Mercury Information Web Page is provided by KDHE to answer residents' questions regarding mercury spills. The Superfund Unit provides state oversight of assessment and corrective action of environmental contamination at U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and federal facility sites through the Defense/State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA). The DSMOA Program is funded by Department of Defense grants. Environmental Geologists within the Superfund Unit work closely with project managers and scientists at the federal agencies. The Superfund Unit provides technical expertise and field oversight of the federal environmental investigations and clean ups, and communicates state priorities and regulatory positions to the federal agencies. The Superfund Unit provides state oversight of assessment and corrective action at sites on the EPA National Priorities List and sites under the EPA Superfund Removal Program through the Management Assistance Cooperative Agreement (MACA). The MACA Program is funded by United States Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Geologists within the Superfund Unit work closely with project managers and scientists at the US EPA. The Superfund Unit provides technical expertise and field oversight of the federal environmental investigations and cleanups, and communicates state priorities and regulatory positions to the EPA. The Superfund Unit also provides assessment and corrective action at Formerly-Used Defense Sites (FUDS) through a grant from US EPA. Environmental Geologists within the Superfund Unit perform site assessments of Formerly-Used Defense Sites and make recommendations to the US EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers when the need for more expansive site assessment and/or remediation at the sites is warranted. Identified Sites ListContaminated sites managed by the Assessment & Restoration Section are included in the Identified Sites List (ISL) database. A fact sheet for each ISL site can be found at http://www.kdheks.gov/remedial/isl_disclaimer.htm. More detailed information is available from KDHE through a Kansas Open Records Act request. Please contact the program representatives listed on this web page for additional information Staff
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