KRWA News

State Authorizes Lawrence to Release Nitrogen-Contaminated Water into Kansas River
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has authorized the city to dispose up to 30 million gallons of nitrogen-contaminated groundwater from the former Farmland fertilizer plant into the Kansas River, from now until Apr. 1. When the city acquired the Farmland property in 2010, it became legally responsible for remediating decades of nitrogen fertilizer spills that contaminated the area groundwater. The original plan to dispense the water to local farmers was not sufficient and storage tanks at the site are at capacity. KDHE officials said they don’t expect any impact because the nitrogen will be heavily diluted. Under the KDHE authorization, the city cannot release more than 500,000 gallons of nitrogen water per day, said Tom Stiles, assistant director of the KDHE Bureau of Water. In addition, he said the discharge could only occur when the river flow is over 1,000 cubic feet per second. The city must test nitrogen and ammonia levels in the discharge and monitor for buildup of algae or plant growth downstream.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/nov/10/state-authorizes-lawrence-release-30-million-gallo/