In the case titled “Wichita Confronts Contamination”, in the year 1990 city of Wichita, Kansas, had to deal with a pollution that was detected in wells under the downtown area. Hazardous chemicals known to cause cancer and other health problems had been detected in some private and industrial wells in Wichita’s core are (Stillman 2010, pg. 137). This was a major problem not only for the residents and businesses in this area, but also for the future of the city itself. The banks put a hold on lending money for the properties in the contaminated area, and the investors were exiting investment opportunities. City manager Chris Cherches had to find a solution to this public administration riddle, before the town completely lost its value and people started to abandon the city. City of Wichita was in crisis, and everyone was waiting to see what the next step of the city was.
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Number one was to allow the companies that caused contamination to clean it. Number two was to allow federal government to get involved and Wichita to be awarded Superfund for the cleanup. Neither of these solutions satisfied Chris, because both of them forced the blame on to either private, or public sectors. In order to achieve maximum results Cherches saw the need to manage all the intergovernmental relationships (IGR) at the same time. IGR group included:
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) – state agency that created the initial solutions to a problem. They oversaw the cleanup and reported everything to the EPA.
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – federal agency that worked directly with KDHE to ensure proper cleanup of the contamination.
• Coleman Company – manufacturing company, which is responsible for the majority of pollution.
• Community – include all the citizens, investors and developers. Fear of potential property value and investment
Number one was to allow the companies that caused contamination to clean it. Number two was to allow federal government to get involved and Wichita to be awarded Superfund for the cleanup. Neither of these solutions satisfied Chris, because both of them forced the blame on to either private, or public sectors. In order to achieve maximum results Cherches saw the need to manage all the intergovernmental relationships (IGR) at the same time. IGR group included:
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) – state agency that created the initial solutions to a problem. They oversaw the cleanup and reported everything to the EPA.
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – federal agency that worked directly with KDHE to ensure proper cleanup of the contamination.
• Coleman Company – manufacturing company, which is responsible for the majority of pollution.
• Community – include all the citizens, investors and developers. Fear of potential property value and investment