Baxter Springs KS, KDHE and Lagoon

The Kansas Department of Heath and Environment (KDHE) has ordered the City of Baxter Springs (KS.) to stop poluting Spring River. The Joplin Globe, Friday, June 22, 2007, reports that the sewage lagoon east of Spring River on the eastern edge of town has been a source of complaints about odors for several years. The Administrative Order from KDHE (dated June 13, 2007) tells Baxter Springs Mayor Huey York and the City to find a solution to problems with its lagoon that are causing partially untreated sewage to be discharged into Spring River. The options include: building a mechanical sewage treatment plant; adding a pre-treatment system at the sewage lagoon; and/or requiring any industry discharging high amounts of waste to treat the waste before it enters the city's system.