City, county close in on matching-fund goal for contamination site health testing
Local government officials are confident they’ll meet a $1 million matching goal by the June 30 deadline to unlock more funding from the state to support efforts to get people health screenings near the 29th and Grove groundwater contamination site.
The state of Kansas has already agreed to give $1.5 million to get people tested who live near the contamination site tested, but the city of Wichita and Sedgwick County can receive another $1 million from the state if it raises the same amount in matching funds.
The city of Wichita and Sedgwick County have each agreed to give $125,000 towards the matching funds.
The Kansas Health Foundation announced earlier this year it would give $500,000, bringing the total in matching funds to $750,000.
Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson said during a City Council meeting Tuesday that they’re currently in negotiations with other philanthropic organizations to raise the remaining $250,000, and announcements could be made later this month.
“We’ve had some really good conversations. Communities really coming together to support this,” Johnson said.
The council and Sedgwick County agreed this week to a memorandum of agreement with the Kansas Health Foundation to allow the foundation to allocate funding to health care providers for the testing services.
A health study found residents living near the contamination site had higher rates of liver cancer than other Kansans.
But that study examined residents outside of the groundwater contamination plume by including residents in two ZIP codes, one of which is partially outside the contamination area.
“I think there should be a headline out there that we’re simply spending taxpayer money, and it’s not a very thoughtful way to approach the problem,” Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell said about citing the study for testing needs.
The funding has been a point of contention between local and state officials – which at one point boiled over to a shouting match at a Topeka pub between Johnson and State Rep. Ford Carr.
The city and county disagreed with the state on how it should use the funds, including whether the local governments could use the funds to help address contamination-related health issues in the longer term.
The MOA signed by the city, county and the KHF outlines a proviso given by the state, and that funding would go towards different cancer screening and testing methods, including metabolic panels, urine and blood tests, and alpha fetoprotein tests for pregnant women.
“We weren’t even consulted on the proviso” County Commission Chairman Ryan Baty said. “We didn’t know what was coming. We learned of these things through the media.”
The MOA also says that quarterly reports would be made available that show how the funding is being spent.
All $3.5 million of the funding must be spent by the end of 2026.