WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials didn’t notify hundreds of Wichita-area residents about contaminated drinking water in two neighborhoods for years.
The state discovered dry cleaning chemicals had contaminated groundwater at a Haysville laundromat in 2011 while investigating a possible Kwik Shop expansion.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment didn’t act on the contamination for more than six years, the Wichita Eagle reported.
The state didn’t test nearby private wells or notify residents so that they could test for contamination at their drinking wells.
"Instead, they all kept quiet.
The state also waited more than four years to notify more than 200 homes that officials discovered contamination near a Wichita dry cleaning site.
"Everyone up and down the street has had something or (the) other."
Republican Sen. Dan Kerschen said he wants the Health Department to receive more funding designated for cleaning up contaminated sites, instead of just implementing emergency actions such as providing bottled water and hooking residents up to city water.
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