After decades of investigation, testing and concern about contaminated groundwater in northeast Wichita, the long-running 29th and Grove cleanup is moving another significant step toward construction.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Aug. 26 that it has approved Union Pacific Railroad’s engineering design drawings for systems intended to clean contaminated groundwater extending south from the railroad’s Wichita rail yard.
The approval doesn’t mean construction starts immediately. Union Pacific must now put the project out for bid and select a contractor. Permits, equipment and materials also must be secured. KDHE is still reviewing permit applications involving the discharge of treated groundwater into Chisholm Creek.
But the approval moves the project from deciding how to clean up the contamination toward actually building the systems designed to do it.
Decades of Contamination
The contamination originated at a rail yard south of K-96 between I-135 and Grove Street. The primary contaminant is trichloroethene, or TCE, an industrial solvent once widely used to degrease metal. KDHE says the exact incident and timeframe that caused the contamination are unknown.
The contamination was discovered in the 1990s. Investigations determined that contaminated groundwater had traveled south underground from the rail yard, creating a plume that extends approximately 2.9 miles.
Concern intensified in 2022 as residents questioned possible health effects from decades of contamination. A subsequent KDHE health study found higher rates of some health conditions in the affected area, including liver cancer and low-birthweight births. However, KDHE said the study could not establish that the groundwater contamination caused those health outcomes.
Union Pacific is responsible for the contamination and is paying for the cleanup, according to KDHE.
What Will the Cleanup Do?
The newly approved engineering plans spell out how the groundwater cleanup system will actually work.
The project will include new extraction wells that pump contaminated groundwater out of the ground. The water will be sent through treatment systems designed to remove TCE and other contaminants.
After treatment, some of the water can be returned underground through injection wells. Union Pacific is also seeking permits that would allow treated groundwater to be discharged into Chisholm Creek.
Building that system will require new extraction and injection wells, treatment buildings and underground pipelines connecting the different parts of the system.
The broader cleanup also includes continued bioremediation, removal of remaining contaminated soil at the rail yard and ongoing groundwater and surface-water monitoring.
With the engineering designs now approved, Union Pacific will put the construction project out for bid and select a contractor. Construction can begin after the contractor is selected and necessary construction-related permits, materials and equipment are obtained.
That makes the project considerably more tangible for nearby residents: Where will the wells go? Where will treatment facilities be located? Where will pipelines run? When will construction begin?
Those are among the questions residents can ask at the upcoming community meeting.
Residents Can See the Plans Sept. 12
KDHE will hold an open house where residents can see information about the cleanup system and talk directly with representatives of KDHE and Union Pacific.
KDHE’s 29th and Grove Open House
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026
1 to 4 p.m.
Brewer Community Center, Multipurpose Room 114
1329 E. 16th St. N., Wichita
Information will be available on the planned locations of new extraction and injection wells, treatment buildings and underground pipelines, along with other aspects of the cleanup.
For people who live — or previously lived — in the affected neighborhoods, the open house is an opportunity to find out exactly where the project stands and what comes next.
Residents can also ask how long construction and cleanup are expected to take, how the system will be monitored and how officials will determine whether the cleanup is working.
After decades of contamination and years of planning, the project is moving closer to putting an actual cleanup system in the ground. The Sept. 12 open house gives residents a chance to see what is planned and get answers directly from the people responsible for overseeing and carrying out the work.
