Tuesday, November 27
3 PM

In 1991, the City of Wichita took the initiative and the risks of tackling an environmental problem which threatened the very heart of our city. It was going to impact our economy, public health and the environment. Groundwater contamination discovered under a large part of downtown and south central Wichita threatened to end downtown revitalization before it ever began. It rendered businesses helpless to expand or even get bank loans. The public health of our citizens was threatened. The value from thousands of parcels of property was endangered. It threatened to make homes worth little and hard to sell.

The Environmental Protection Agency was considering placing the polluted area, named the Gilbert-Mosley site, on the Superfund List. Given the history of many Superfund sites, we were very reluctant to let this happen. Very often Superfund Sites end up producing a lot of lawsuits and result in a lot of money being spent without solving the real problem, which is to clean up the pollution.

After weighing the pros and cons, the City of Wichita developed an ingenious plan to keep the site off of the Superfund List. The City of Wichita took charge of the pollution clean-up. It had never been done before. It required changes in state law and permission from state and federal agencies. Our approach worked. Businesses were able to again get bank loans and the plans for Old Town were finally able to advance. More than $300-million in development has taken place downtown. And the groundwater is being cleaned-up.

The Gilbert & Mosley Project is considered one of the most innovative public-private partnerships ever created to solve the complex environmental problem of groundwater contamination.

This project has earned the City of Wichita national recognition, including the prestigious Ford Foundation's Innovations in State and Local Government Award from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Now that you have some background of this project, you can understand the excitement of today's event. We are here today to announce a new development in the on-going clean-up project: The Groundwater Remediation & Environmental Education Center. This truly is the first step in the final chapter of this project. It has taken a significant amount of leadership and innovation to get us to this point. And we are pleased to celebrate with you all – many of whom were instrumental to this process.

As with every aspect of this project since its inception, the City of Wichita has approached the very necessary and practical task of cleaning up contaminated groundwater with creativity, innovation and added value for taxpayers.

The City of Wichita is resolute in its pledge to clean up the groundwater, to protect the interests of taxpayers in the process and to collect the costs of the cleanup from those who caused the pollution.

At this time I would like to introduce Jack Brown, our Director of Environmental Health. He has been instrumental in getting us here. He will explain briefly the remediation process that makes it all happen. Jack...

Thank you, Bill. And thank you, Jack. At this time I would like to recognize some key people who have been instrumental in making this event happen. Then I'd like to ask those present to come up here and join me in officially breaking ground at this site. For their commitment and leadership, I would like to recognize the following people:

• The City of Wichita, our City Council:
  • Carl Brewer, District 1
  • Joe Piscotte, District 2
  • Bill Gale, District 4
  • Bob Martz, District 5
  • Sharon Fearey, District 6
  • And especially Phil Lambke of District 3. We are in his District right now.
  • Past City Councilmembers including Joan Cole, George Rogers, Greg Ferris & Sheldon Kamen
  • Plus the City Manager, Chris Cherches
  • And Jack Brown and the entire group at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Environmental Health Division
• The Sedgwick County Commission
• The Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Representing their team today is Chris Jump.
• The Environmental Protection Agency, especially former EPA regional administrator Morris Kay
• Bill Livingston and his team at Gossen Livingston Architects
• CDM and their team of engineers and consultants
• Bank IV
• All members of the Gilbert and Mosley ground water advisory committee
• All members of the Citizens Technical Review Committee
• Wichita State University
• And the Sierra Club

Please give these people your appreciation. I ask them again to help us officially break ground to this historical site. Then after, we will move inside where it is much warmer, into Police Station South for a reception sponsored by engineering firm CDM.