Southeast Kansas Health Study

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Southeast Kansas Health Study

IV. Study Background and Rationale

In Southeast Kansas, four commercial hazardous waste combustors (three cement kilns and an incinerator) operate within a 25-mile radius. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this area supports the highest concentration of commercial hazardous waste burners in the country. The four operations are Ash Grove Cement Company in Chanute; APTUS/Laidlaw (recently renamed Safety-Kleen, Inc.) in Coffeyville; Lafarge Corporation in Fredonia; and Heartland Cement Company in Independence. Monarch Cement Company, also located within this 25-mile radius, has burned hazardous waste in the past, but now burns tires for fuel.

EPA and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) are responsible for permitting these hazardous waste operations. During public hearings held in 1995 and 1996 on the permitting of the Ash Grove Cement Company, area citizens expressed concerns to the EPA and the American Lung Association (ALA) that health problems in the community are related to stack emissions from combustion operations. Residents also expressed concern about releases of cement kiln dust into air and water, and waste generated by cement manufacturing. Some citizens requested that a health study be conducted, while others indicated that an extensive environmental monitoring program was required. EPA responded to the public's concerns by committing funds to conduct a health study of the four affected communities.

As stipulated by EPA, this study will focus on the towns of Chanute, Coffeyville, Fredonia, and Independence, Kansas. The study will have environmental and health effects components. The study's environmental component will evaluate the health implications of existing environmental data and identify environmental data gaps to be filled during the study. The study's health effects component will address respiratory health and cancer incidence and mortality rates in the study area. The cancer investigation will build upon an earlier preliminary epidemiological study of pediatric cancers in the area performed by KDHE. Investigators will identify and collect the necessary environmental and medical data to complete the study.

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