City, County and State leaders met with Black community members to express their concern about the KDHE health survey showing liver cancer rates at double the state average in the area contaminated by a decades-old chemical spill.
Sedgwick County Commissioner Ryan Baty expressed outrage that the report was “dumped” with no chance for community leaders to get explanations and details and pledged to continue pushing to make sure the needs of residents in the contamination area are met.
“There has been a total breakdown of communication and trust,” Baty said at a press conference called after the release of the report about noon on Friday.
Councilman Brandon Johnson assured community members leaders are working to get answers.
“I can tell you that I don’t trust this,” he said. “They tell us that well water is safe to use to water the garden. I’m urging you not to do that. I know it costs a little more money, but please use city water. We know our city water is clean and safe.”
The KDHEreport warned it is not safe to play in well water in the area or to use it to fill a wading or swimming pool.
Johnson said the council, commission and state representatives are working to set up a public forum with Union Pacific Railroad officials who are implementing the remediation plan and to get additional resources in place.
“At the very least, we need to be getting something like free cancer screenings in place for people who have been exposed to this contamination. We need that as soon as possible,” said Johnson.
State Rep. Ford Carr and Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau said they met with Gov. Laura Kelly to make her aware of the ongoing contamination and received assurances that efforts to help the area will be ramped up.
“I played in the area as a child more than 30 years ago,” Carr.”They call the spill area 29th and Grove but Grove doesn’t go all the way to 29th. At the end is Grove Park and there are football fields there that children are playing on right now. There is a wooded area, a creek and a pond. At the very least, we should have signage warning people to stay away from the water.”
Aujuane Bennett, president of the MilAir Neighborhood Association, offered a reminder that it is not just the groundwater that is contaminated. “It’s in the air, the soil and the water,” she said.
Former Councilwoman Lavonta Williams said she is upset the health study only covers the decade between 2009 and 2019.
“We need to go back a lot farther. We know that spill was discovered in 1998, but we have no idea how long before that it actually happened. Last winter, we were told it might go all the way back to the 1980s. Now, they are guessing 1994. I don’t have any faith in this document.”
Johnson promised that leaders will continue to press for the needs of the community to be met and that residents will get a chance to learn first-hand from Union Pacific what remedies will be offered.