Topeka-Kansas environmental officials are pushing ahead with final plans to clean up the former Farmland Industries Inc. plant east of Lawrence. The clean-up is now expected to cost $13 million and extend over 30 years to remove high levels of nitrogen and ammonia contaminating soil and groundwater. Officials point out that it is unclear where all the money will come from. The trust fund contains about $4 million while the administrative fund totals about $6 million, and it’s uncertain how much of that can be used. Rick Bean of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment noted that a 30-day comment period on a draft has closed and work is underway on the final plan. “Anybody interested in purchasing the property will now know what our expectations are for cleaning up the property,” Bean stated, adding that nothing will happen until a third party buys the land and helps with the costs. Lawrence City, which wants to buy the property for a business park, is negotiating with the bankruptcy trust and the state to use the entire administrative fund for cleanup purposes. Capitana Redevelopment Group, an Overland Park investment group that purchased a legal interest in the administrative trust fund, will also have some say.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain