Several Kan. communities fighting the same problem after disastrously wet May

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

RUSSELL — Heavy rainfall has overwhelmed many sewer systems across Kansas pushing the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to monitor the release of untreated wastewater into nearby creeks, including by the city of Russell.

Rich Krause, Russell public works director, said the release was necessary last week as water continued to overwhelm the sewer system and homes were being flooded with water from the sewer system.

While water bypassed treatment systems, Krause said it was pumped from a manhole on a city street and would have been mostly rainwater.

Russell is not alone when it comes to this problem.

“Great Bend and McPherson dealt with some issues with their collection systems with the additional rainfall,” according to Jeff Crispin, Hays director of water resources.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment regulates municipalities when a wastewater bypass is necessary and was involved in the decision in Russell and other systems that have been overwhelmed across Kansas.

“The extensive rainfall has forced many communities and industries to bypass since the week before Memorial Day,” said Tom Stiles, KDHE bureau of water assistant director.

“The city has the authority under (the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) to make such a bypass if it is unavoidable, there are no feasible alternatives, and it’s requested to KDHE. … These emergency bypasses are intended to protect the wastewater system from damage, as well as keep sewage out of people’s basements or off their property.”

The bypass in Russell followed protocols and the KDHE is awaiting a bypass report, Stiles said.

But there are dangers related to water that bypasses normal sanitation systems, including gastrointestinal distress, skin rashes, infections that could become serious, and exposure to bacteria and viruses, according to Stiles.

Because of those dangers, the KDHE issued a general warning across the state this month to avoid streams and waterways, but individual stream monitoring is not required unless the bypassing continues after creeks return to normal flows.

“The Smoky Hill River is currently (discharging) at 1,880 cubic feet per second, it reached a high of 7,400 cubic feet per second last week, which effectively masks the individual impact of this bypass,” Stiles said. “If the bypass continues once dry weather sets in, we would issue a specific stream advisory and require Russell to monitor conditions until such time that we can rescind the stream advisory.”

While this bypass was in place, some in the city of Russell believed a boil order issued in a rural part of Russell County was due to the bypass, but Krause and the KDHE confirmed it was unrelated.

“Russell does not supply (Rural Water District) number three. The RWD gets its water from Otis and had low water pressure, which triggered the Boil Water Advisory,” Stiles said.

Moving forward, the Russell water treatment system is being evaluated like many others in Kansas.

“The city has an order from the (Environmental Protection Agency) and a state-funded project to search for ‘defects’ or leaks in the sewer system.  When the study is complete we should know specifics.  However, the sheer magnitude of rains the past week has overwhelmed many wastewater systems throughout the state,” Stiles said.

The city of Hays has a different type of wastewater system and was not forced to do a bypass.

“Stormwater and wastewater systems are separate, they are not combined in the city of Hays, but when you are overwhelmed as far as wastewater, stormwater does get into the sanitary sewer system, such as where manholes may be underwater,” Crispin said. “We did take on extra water, but we were never over the capacity of our plant. … Our system handled the flows just fine.”

Crispin attributed this to the larger system in Hays.

“Our system is designed to handle a lot higher flows than we receive on average,” he said.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The mud flew this week at Rolling Plains Motor Speedway as IMCA stock car racers from around the region came to Hays to compete for a $5,000 grand prize in the 1st Class Chassis Stock Car ShootOut.

Tornadoes briefly touched down north of the speedway Tuesday, but did not detour racers and fans on the first night of the races. Spectators were urged to temporarily take cover as the sirens sounded.

This was the inaugural year for the ShootOut at RPM presented by 1st Class Chassis Race Cars, Hoisington.

Drivers from nine states, including Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Kansas registered for the races.

Jordan Grabouski of Beatrice, Neb., beat national stock car champion Mike Nichols of Harlan, Iowa, for the IMCA Stock Car feature win.

Nichols is an eight-time National Stock Car Champion and has over 700 career wins in nine states and one Canadian province.

The pits were packed with racers eager to vie for the $5,000 or one of the other prizes up for grabs Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Jason Rogers, Selden, has eight track titles at RPM. He had a start in the 11th position for the feature and ended the race in seventh.

Rogers has been racing for 18 years and races most weekends at the Hays track. He said the competition keeps him coming back for more.

“I just try to be as consistent as I can be and be there at the end every week,” he said.

When he is not racing, he farms. His son is now old enough he is racing in the hobby stock class.

Angel Munoz, 33, Lamar, Colo., is also a regular racer at RPM. He started in the 10th position Wednesday in the IMCA stock car class and finished fifth in the 2M car.

Munoz, who works for a small trucking company, said RPM usually has plenty of cars and tough competition, which is why he likes racing at the track.

“You just get a rush out of it you can’t get anywhere else,” Munoz said of racing.

Dominic Ursetta, 31, of Denver, was hoping for a good finish Wednesday after securing the fourth position in the IMCA stock car class, but did not finish the race.

“I don’t know if a can explain it. It is some kind of drug or something,” Ursetta said of why he races. “It is something with motors and winning. We like to win.”

Friends Tyler Tipton, 26, Weskan, and his father, Randy Tipton, regularly race at the Hays track. Tyler was unable to start his feature race Wednesday night in the stock car class.

Randy raced for 25 years until Tyler was old enough to race, and now he wrenches on the car while Tyler drivers. Tyler said as a kid he spent his weekends fetching tools for his dad in the pits.

“He grew up in the grand stands watching me, so now I figure it’s his turn,” Randy said.

Tyler said now racing is like a second full-time job.

“I get off work and go back to work [on the car],” he said.

See results of the feature races below or on the RPM website results page. Also learn more about RPM on its Facebook page.