We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with requests for some documents. If an attempt to download an individual document from the “Documents/Photos Available” link does not return the expected results, please contact the Project Manager associated with the Identified Site or the Remedial Section at 785-296-1660. We are working to resolve this problem as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The site was used as an Army Airfield used from approximately 1942 to 1945. Army Air Corps B-24 pilots used the installation as a training facility until 1945. The base was a self contained unit capable of supporting just under 5,000 personnel. The Department of Defense maintained an electrical distribution system, drinking water supply wells, and a sanitary sewer system on the base. Base facilities included maintenance areas for aircraft and motor vehicles, pump houses, warehouses, hangars, and fuel storage areas. The site was conveyed to the City of Liberal in 1948 through quit-claim deed. Since then, the site has been used as a municipal airport and industrial park.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) prepared an Archives Search Report in 1997, which included historical records review and a site inspection. USACE conducted at limited Site Investigation (SI) between 1996 and 1997. Both documents recommended no further action; however, SI used a contract laboratory whose data was declared invalid. Therefore, KDHE did not accept the investigation results or findings.


USACE conducted a site inspection under the Military Munitions Response Program from December 2007 to January 2008. Two areas of concern had been previously identified: a former skeet range and a former pistol range (these ranges are no longer present and the areas they occupied now serve different purposes). The SI report, issued in July 2008, indicates that no analytes were found at levels above human health screening values in the former pistol range area, and no further action is needed . In the former skeet range area, lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were detected at concentrations above their respective human health screening values, and further action is recommended.

More information will be provided as it is made available.