Case Study 7: Wichita Confronts Contamination The case study of “Wichita Confronts Contamination,” begins in 1990 when the KDHE (Kansas Department of Health and Environment), reported that Wichita was sitting on an underground polluted lake. The pollution had a caused by a direct cause to various commercial and industrial chemicals. The KDHE did a preliminary study on it and later on handed the report to the City Manager Chris Cherches. Once the information came out, the banks then stopped lending, city lost investors, and the county appraiser lowered property values forty percent. City Manager Cherches enlisted of group of staffers to study KDHE’s two recommended options in order to draft a plan for the city. Mr. Cherches continuously stressed
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After careful consideration City Manager Cherches rejected both options recommended by the KDHE. Mr. Cherches rejected the first option because it was extremely unlikely that more than 500 PRP’s at Gilbert-Mosley would be able reach a timely agreement on liability nor was it known if Coleman would cooperate. The second option recommended by the KDHE of ranking the site for superfund was quickly declined. Superfund is trust-fund program set up by Congress to handle emergencies and hazardous waste sites needing long-term clean-up (i.e. Wichita). The Superfund program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Superfund program is important in intergovernmental relations because it is dedicated to cleaning up our nation’s hazardous waste sites. Even though, the Superfund program objective is to improve hazardous waste sites in the case of Wichita the Superfund program was going to cause a bigger burden on the city. Therefore, when Cherches learned that cost of cleaning up Gilbert-Mosley would increase dramatically with Superfund for rejected that as a possible solution. For example, the agency would hired an overnight contractor – a step …show more content…
Another concern Cherches and the city of Wichita had was the threat of prolonged multi-party litigation was even bigger deterrent to reliance on Superfund (Stillman 147). Lastly, of the average 10 years taken to clean-up a site, approximately 7 years are spent on study and assessment, legal proceedings, and crafting a plan before the clean-up actually begins (Stillman 147). Based on this time period it would be years before clean-up began if Gilbert-Mosley became a Superfund site. After, City Manager Cherches rejected the two recommended options given by the KDHE he proposed a third option for the city. Cherches proposed that the city take full responsibility for the Gilbert-Mosley cleanup. During this process, Wichita could attempt to avoid the time and resources normally spent on Superfund related litigation, and generate some mechanisms to get banks to start lending in the contaminated site again. At the end, City Manager Cherches proposed a tax “decrement” plan in which the city would devalue the affected properties. At the same time immediately raise values back to pre-contamination levels and use those tax funds to pay for the
After careful consideration City Manager Cherches rejected both options recommended by the KDHE. Mr. Cherches rejected the first option because it was extremely unlikely that more than 500 PRP’s at Gilbert-Mosley would be able reach a timely agreement on liability nor was it known if Coleman would cooperate. The second option recommended by the KDHE of ranking the site for superfund was quickly declined. Superfund is trust-fund program set up by Congress to handle emergencies and hazardous waste sites needing long-term clean-up (i.e. Wichita). The Superfund program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Superfund program is important in intergovernmental relations because it is dedicated to cleaning up our nation’s hazardous waste sites. Even though, the Superfund program objective is to improve hazardous waste sites in the case of Wichita the Superfund program was going to cause a bigger burden on the city. Therefore, when Cherches learned that cost of cleaning up Gilbert-Mosley would increase dramatically with Superfund for rejected that as a possible solution. For example, the agency would hired an overnight contractor – a step …show more content…
Another concern Cherches and the city of Wichita had was the threat of prolonged multi-party litigation was even bigger deterrent to reliance on Superfund (Stillman 147). Lastly, of the average 10 years taken to clean-up a site, approximately 7 years are spent on study and assessment, legal proceedings, and crafting a plan before the clean-up actually begins (Stillman 147). Based on this time period it would be years before clean-up began if Gilbert-Mosley became a Superfund site. After, City Manager Cherches rejected the two recommended options given by the KDHE he proposed a third option for the city. Cherches proposed that the city take full responsibility for the Gilbert-Mosley cleanup. During this process, Wichita could attempt to avoid the time and resources normally spent on Superfund related litigation, and generate some mechanisms to get banks to start lending in the contaminated site again. At the end, City Manager Cherches proposed a tax “decrement” plan in which the city would devalue the affected properties. At the same time immediately raise values back to pre-contamination levels and use those tax funds to pay for the