Old City Dump Cleanup Program

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment's (KDHE) Bureau of Waste Management (BWM) administers the Old City Dump Cleanup Program through its Dump Cleanup Program. The Old City Dump Cleanup Program provides funds to cities or counties for the repair of old, unused municipal dump sites. These sites primarily operated between the 1940s and the 1970s before many counties had landfills and prior to the current regulations for solid waste disposal. A change to permitted landfills in the 1970s led to the abandonment of some old city dumps, or improper long-term care that allowed the soil covers to become damaged over time. When the regulations were put into place, these dump sites were no longer used. After the floods of 1993, the KDHE began to inspect these old dump sites to determine if and where repairs would be necessary. KDHE compiled a list of approximately 850 dump sites throughout the state of Kansas. Clean up became so successful, KDHE continued to survey town dump sites across the state and help local communities with the cleanup.

Since that time, efforts have been made to repair as many of these dump sites as possible with funding available through tipping fees. These are fees that are levied on all waste that enters landfills today. The Kansas legislature approved the solid waste-tipping fee in 1992. KDHE utilizes these funds to address necessary repairs at select dump sites.

Sites are scored and selected based on the type of wastes involved, amount of waste at a site, and proximity of any receptors. The KDHE Compliance Assistance and Enforcement Section in BWM administers the program by providing technical guidance, funding and oversight for city dump repair projects. Kansas' cities and counties receive the grant funding to implement the individual projects. The first dump repair projects were initiated in 1995. Approximately 91 city dumps have been repaired as of 2015, at a total cost of almost $4 million. The Old City Dump Cleanup Program typically provides approximately $125,000 to $150,000 per year for city dump repair projects.

Old City Dump Locations

For More Information

Contact your local KDHE district office or the Topeka office for more information.

Additionally, you may view our Old City Dump Locations Map.