KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says a closed landfill doesn’t comply with state laws for dealing with solid waste and poses a danger to people’s health.

KDHE ordered the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., to better monitor the former landfill and clean up contaminated groundwater. It was the first time the state has issued an order on a closed landfill, KDHE officials said.

KDHE told the Unified Government to determine the extent of groundwater contamination, build additional wells to monitor groundwater and come up with a plan for cleanup. The government also must build two more vents to make sure methane gas it generates doesn’t spread.

Bob Roddy, assistant county administrator, contends the state should provide some funding for the project. He said the Unified Government had not decided whether to ask for an administrative hearing. The government, which received the order Wednesday, has until July 5 to ask for one.

The department order says several known or probable carcinogens, such as trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride, have gotten into the groundwater. In its 14-page order, KDHE said the landfill presented “a substantial hazard to the public health and environment.”

But Roddy argues that groundwater doesn’t need to meet drinking-water standards.

“Groundwater in and of itself is not tap water,” he said. “So to use drinking-water standards as a comparison is not comparing apples to apples. What is that water in comparison to river water or other groundwater?”

Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for KDHE, said it was common for the department to use drinking-water standards for groundwater. The groundwater could make its way to the Missouri River, about one mile away, she said.