Lawrence can release contaminated water into Kansas River

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - The city of Lawrence will be allowed to release millions of gallons of nitrogen-contaminated water into the Kansas River.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment authorized the city to release the water from the former Farmland fertilizer plant during the next several months, under certain conditions.

Agency officials say they don’t expect the water to have any impact because the nitrogen will be heavily diluted.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the city is authorized to release up to 30 million gallons of nitrogen-contaminated water from now until April 1. It can’t release more than 500,000 gallons per day, and the discharge is allowed only when the river flow is more than 1,000 cubic feet per second.

The discharge is necessary because storage tanks at the plant site are at capacity.

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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com