One big rainstorm won’t fix Wichita’s water shortage. Dark storm clouds that hovered over Wichita one mid-September softened the ring of cracked dirt that’s inched wider around Cheney Lake each week, but it didn’t erase the underlying problem. Kansas is in a drought. For much of the last year, Cheney Lake, Wichita’s primary water source, […]
Environment
The Wichita Beacon shares the latest environmental news stories and their impact on you and the your community.
Posted inCivic Engagement
Sedgwick County regulators hold up giant solar farm on Wichita’s outskirts amid objections from neighbors
Sedgwick County appeared poised to follow its ban on wind farms with widely vetted regulations that would allow acre after acre of solar panels pumping renewable energy into the electrical grid. Instead, the county still has a moratorium on the construction of large-scale solar farms. “Boils down to a simple phrase: not in my backyard,” […]
Posted inEnvironment
Hearing more about tornado dangers in Wichita? Here’s why
Violent tornadoes touching down chewing up ground for dozens of miles. Baseball-sized hail. Wind gusts of up to 80 mph. The weather forecast for Monday night in Wichita looked dire. People braced for the worst. Wichita Public Schools canceled after-school activities. Other districts let out early. Dillons grocery store in College Hill posted a sign […]
Posted inEnvironment, Health
Wichita’s not just an allergy capital — it’s a triple crown of pollen
Allergies in Wichita are no joke. Just ask comedian Nate Bargatze. A TikTok video shot in October shows him returning from a jog with itchy hands and feet. He said he could feel his lips swelling. The comedian was experiencing a severe and sudden case of what many Wichitans live with for months every year […]
Posted inEnvironment, Kansas State Government
An EPA grant is helping Kansas foster kids get environmental jobs
Takeaways: A growing program in Kansas and Missouri aims to set up more kids for environmental jobs — and it’s focusing on foster kids. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is spending more than $450,000 to help foster children in the two states land environmental jobs. Those kids spend days in the classroom studying for key […]
Posted inEconomics, Environment, Kansas State Government
Kansas regulators give Evergy a smaller electrical rate hike than it asked for
Takeaways: Kansas regulators dialed back electric rate hikes that Evergy wanted to impose on its customers. Electric rates will now go up slightly for former Westar customers in the central part of Kansas and tick down for customers who used to get their kilowatts from Kansas City Power & Light. Evergy says, on average, its […]
Posted inEnvironment, Wichita Journalism Collaborative
‘Ignored’: Activist challenges new environmental justice center to represent Black community
Mary Dean, president of Black Women Empowered in Wichita, Inc., and Kansas Justice Advocate, Inc., spoke out at an event at Wichita State for the new Heartland Environmental Justice Center. Dean said, “I couldn’t sit here any longer and listen to this.” “I’m just tired of hearing the same old thing that large groups or […]
Posted inEnvironment
What you didn’t know about curbside recycling in Wichita
Local environmental activist Jane Byrnes was so excited after her group ReGreening Wichita toured a recycling plant in April — recorded here on video — that she created flyers to spread the word and contacted local media. The flyers declare: “Recycling in Wichita is NOW much, much easier! NO more washing or rinsing! Pizza boxes welcome! […]
Posted inEnvironment, Kansas State Government
Study finds higher rates of liver cancer, low birth weights near toxic site in northeast Wichita
Rates of liver cancer and low birth weights are higher among people living above a toxic groundwater site northeast of downtown Wichita, a new health study by the state of Kansas finds. The source of the contamination is the Union Pacific rail yard at 29th and Grove, which has a chemical in its soil and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Kansas State Government, Watchdog
‘I’m just so angry’: Wichitans feel state neglected to warn them of danger
In November, KMUW and The Wichita Beacon requested records detailing what the state did to inform the public of the contamination. The state produced limited evidence that it followed through on key aspects of its own communications plan between 2003 and 2022.