Commission OKs range cleanup
Published on -11/9/2010, 11:40 AM
Printer-friendly version
E-Mail This Story
By GAYLE WEBER
Reluctantly, Ellis County commissioners gave approval to an agreement between the county, city of Hays and Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Monday to clean up a former shooting range west of Hays.
Still uneasy about not knowing the full costs that would be assessed to the county, Commissioners Perry Henman and Dean Haselhorst approved the contract. Commissioner Glenn Diehl abstained from the vote because the shooting range is on his property.
"It just bothers me that it's so open-ended," Henman said.
The shooting range was used by city and county law enforcement and local highway patrol troopers. As such, KDHE drew up an agreement that involved the state, county and city.
KDHE's costs will not exceed $30,000, according to the contract. The city has budgeted nearly $70,000 for remediation; meanwhile, the county is providing equipment and manpower to excavate more than 100 yards of dirt at the site as well as paying for hauling and disposal expenses.
"They consider both parties to be equally responsible," Administrator Greg Sund said.
County expenses for the project have been estimated at $25,000 including in-kind services. If hauling and disposal costs exceed the city's share, the county and city would split the remaining disposal costs.
"There's a lot of (dirt) we hope stays on site," Sund said.
He's hoping the soil will be able to be filtered in order to avoid it being classified as hazardous waste, which would result in the county hiring someone to haul the dirt to a KDHE-approved landfill. Otherwise, the soil might be able to be hauled to the county's landfill or left on site.
The agreement still is subject to approval by the city.
