KDHE Home - News 1999 - News Release

Kansas
Department of Health & Environment
Bill Graves, Governor
Clyde D. Graeber, Secretary

July 7, 1999

Contact: Don Brown, 785-296-1529

KDHE Secretary Echoes Concerns for Equus Beds Aquifer

Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment, Clyde D. Graeber, today outlined his stance on the Equus Beds aquifer and concerns by officials in south-central Kansas that large-scale swine facilities could potentially pollute that source of groundwater.

"The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has not received any applications for large hog operations anywhere over the Equus Beds," Graeber said. "If this agency should receive such an application, I will, as always, direct my staff to conduct a complete and thorough review, using the full 180 day process allowed by state law."

In addition, KDHE has the regulatory authority to impose stricter guidelines on large swine facilities proposed in regions designated as sensitive groundwater management areas. The Equus Beds meets that designation."Current laws and regulations allow me to require impermeable synthetic lagoon liners for new large swine facilities in sensitive groundwater management areas," Graeber said. "If we receive an application for such a facility in the Equus Beds region, I will impose those additional environmental restrictions."

Recent research from Kansas State University suggests that shallow groundwater supplies under areas of sandy soil could be more susceptible to pollution from waste treatment lagoons than those located where more clay exists in the soil.

"We are very interested in all of the lagoon research that KSU has compiled over the past two years, and I will be especially interested in the information they produce during this third year of work," Graeber said.

The third year of KSU research will focus on the soils beneath animal waste lagoons. The three-year research project was initiated at the request of Governor Bill Graves.

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