Hutchinson, KS — 4th and Carey Groundwater Remediation and Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Facility Project

In the early 1980s, the 4^th and Carey groundwater contamination site was discovered when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began testing public water supply wells. A city of Hutchinson well located at the intersection of 4^th Avenue and Carey Street was found to be contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The groundwater contamination findings issued as a result of EPA and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) investigations led to the establishment of the 4^th and Carey Site. Strong proactive efforts by the city and local industry leaders prevented the site from being placed on EPA's National Priority List (NPL, or Superfund). The city signed a consent agreement with KDHE in 1994, assuming responsibility to clean up the site. At that time, the city contracted with CDM for remedial assistance. Impacts by high chloride levels in groundwater areas to be treated left the city faced with discharge restrictions due to total maximum daily load requirements for chloride in Cow Creek. The city evaluated alternatives that included beneficial reuse of contaminated water, including a regional solution that addressed the site's contamination, the high chloride waters, water appropriation issues, and other industrial groundwater contamination in the area. Implementation of the approved regional plan included the following activities: delineation of soil and groundwater contamination; installation of source area air sparge and soil vapor extraction systems; soil excavation; installation of a groundwater remediation well system for downgradient capture of regional contamination; water appropriations permitting; two Class I non-hazardous underground injection control (UIC) wells; and construction of a fully automated 6-million-gallon-per-day (mgd) reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment facility. The facility blends treated water with 4 mgd of existing municipal water, producing 10 mgd of higher quality water for potable water use. The RO water treatment facility design and construction management was performed by Professional Engineering Consultants, P.A. (PEC).