De Soto ? The federal government has agreed to assess and catalog pollution as well as historic artifacts at the defunct Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant under a settlement of a lawsuit by a citizens’ group.

The group, called Taxpayers Offering Tomorrow’s Opportunities Inc., filed suit four years ago, seeking to stop the government from transferring ownership of the 9,065-acre property to the Kansas State Projects Development Corp.

At the time, the corporation planned to convey the property to a private developer — Los Angeles-based Oz Entertainment Co. — which wanted to build a theme park on the site.

The lawsuit claimed the government had not conducted a proper environmental assessment, where ammunition was manufactured from 1942 to 1989.

Johnson County commissioners ultimately rejected the theme-park plan and have since endorsed another company’s proposal for a more conventional development with residential, commercial and recreational components.

But the lawsuit remained pending until Thursday’s settlement between the citizens’ group and the U.S. General Services Administration.

Under the settlement, the agency agreed that the government must make a greater effort to catalog toxic wastes at the site and list historic artifacts before it is transferred to new owners, U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren said. In addition, the government will pay $50,000 of the group’s court costs.

“I am pleased that we have reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit that has complicated for years the process of disposing of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant property,” Melgren said. “The ultimate objective is to transfer excess or surplus land according to law in a transaction that is of greatest benefit to the United States and the local community.”