Case History of a Successful "Brownfields" Site in Wichita, Kansas. Part 1: Innovative Approaches to Funding and Liability

A large plume of groundwater contamination was spreading beneath 2,000 acres of business and residential districts of Wichita, Kansas. The situation was worsened by the possibility of the City being listed as a Superfund site. However, an innovative approach to remediation along with close coordination with federal, state, and community governments and local property owners helped to successfully address this serious threat to public health and avert an economic crisis. The City formed a tax increment financing and redevelopment district, created a formal program to release current owners from liability and formulated agreements with lending institutions to assure loans on properties. The engineer reviewed liability release applications, helped create a cost allocation formula to support the revitalization of the affected area, and assisted in negotiating the Settlement Agreement with the State of Kansas. The unique approach to the problem resulted in the City of Wichita being awarded the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government Award for Innovations in State and Local Government.