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Kansas City Structural Steel Superfund Site in Kansas City, Kan., Set for Redevelopment

Release Date: 03/27/2014
Contact Information: Ben Washburn, 913-551-7364, washburn.ben@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., March 27, 2014) - The former Kansas City Structural Steel Superfund Site in Kansas City, Kan., has been purchased for redevelopment into a retail center, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The site of redevelopment is in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, Kan.

Argentine Retail Developers Inc. will build La Plaza Argentine, a development that will house a Walmart grocery store and several other locations for retail businesses at the site.

“This site’s new future is taking shape because EPA partnered with local governments, innovative businesses, and the state of Kansas to use flexible cleanup laws for the Argentine community,” Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said. “La Plaza Argentine shows EPA’s Brownfields Program helping solve the challenge of offering choices for affordable, healthy food in our cities while creating jobs for the proud folks who call Argentine home.”

The site had been contaminated by lead and other heavy metals. In 1993, EPA conducted a removal action which included capping contaminated soil. The developer has worked with neighborhood groups and the Unified Government to obtain approval of the project, and has, with EPA’s approval, enrolled the property in the Environmental Use Controls Program administered by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The controls maintain the cap and protect human health and the environment during construction and into the future.