Federal Facilities Unit

The Federal Facilities Program provides state oversight of environmental assessments and corrective actions at current and former federal facilities including U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) installations and Formerly-Used Defense Sites (FUDS). This work is done through the Defense/State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA). The Federal Facilities Unit works closely with project managers and technical staff at the federal agencies to provide technical expertise and field oversight of federal environmental investigations and cleanups, and to communicate state priorities and regulatory positions to the federal agencies. Learn more about the Federal Facilities Program (PDF).

Identified Sites List

Contaminated sites managed by the Federal Facilities Unit are included in the Identified Sites List (ISL) database. More detailed information is available from KDHE through a Kansas Open Records Act request. Contact the program representatives listed on this web page for additional information.

  1. Defense-State Memorandum
  2. Management Action Plan
  3. Photos

Defense-State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA)

Sites covered by the DSMOA in Kansas include a wide variety of active and former military facilities, such as:

  • Air Force bases
  • Army bases
  • Army ammunition plants
  • Nuclear missile silos
  • World War II-era Army airfields and bombing ranges
  • Anti-aircraft missile batteries

Investigation and remedial action performed at DSMOA sites follow the guidance of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). This guidance is commonly called the Superfund Law. Some active sites also have permits under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which requires investigation and remediation work to address environmental contamination. USACE is responsible for investigating and cleaning up environmental contamination caused by military activities and facilities at Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS). Army and Air Force bases commonly use USACE as their contracting agent for environmental work at their installations.

Once a site has been identified by USACE, EPA, or KDHE, a Preliminary Assessment (PA) is performed to investigate all records available for the site and determine if the site poses an environmental hazard. If the PA finds potential hazards, one or more phases of the investigation will typically sample soil, groundwater, and/or surface water for a variety of contaminants. After identifying all contaminants and their locations, the agencies develop and execute a cleanup plan. Throughout all phases of investigation and cleanup, KDHE, EPA, and USACE work together to make sure all agencies are satisfied that all work is done properly and complies with all applicable regulations. Comments from the public are also solicited at several points during this process, and information on the work is made available to the public.

Even though this process seems straightforward, it often takes many years to complete. Many sites have complex sets of contaminants that are found in many areas and in several media (soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment), so planning and performing investigations at these sites is difficult and expensive. Methods used to clean up the sites may take months or years, especially for groundwater contamination. Finally, because of limited resources, the large number of sites on the DSMOA must be prioritized so that the sites posing the greatest hazards are cleaned up first.