Douglas County commissioners are still on board to help pay for the cleanup of the Black Jack Battlefield site near Baldwin, shown above.

Commissioners on Monday said they were still comfortable contributing $20,000 to clean up an illegal dumping ground of trash, tires, construction debris and much more.

The dump – which was used well before a nonprofit trust bought the property in 2003 to preserve its history – shouldn’t cost more than $80,000 to clean, according to a new estimate from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

KDHE has committed to fund $60,000 of the cost. If the project goes over budget, the Black Jack Battlefield Trust tentatively has agreed to pay for any overruns. Commissioners plan to finalize the agreement later this month. Cleanup work could begin this summer.

The site – about three miles east of Baldwin – is considered by many area historians to be the birthplace of the Civil War. On June 2, 1856, a group of free-staters led by John Brown surprised and defeated a pro-slavery group led by Henry Clay Pate that had camped at the battlefield site.