The city of Lawrence has done as well as can be expected in addressing the issues at the former Farmland Industries site.

The city bought itself time by releasing millions of gallons of nitrogen-contaminated water into the Kansas River under the watchful eye of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The releases solved immediate storage problems at the site. But long term, a plan for the site still must be determined.

Given the complexities of the cleanup and the associated risks, the city is right to seek input from a consultant on what steps to take next in the cleanup process.

The city took ownership of the former fertilizer plant in 2010 with plans to use part of the 467-acre site for a new business park, VenturePark. The property was donated to the city on the condition that the city accept responsibility for cleaning up environmental issues left behind by the bankrupt company. The city received an approximately $8.5 million trust fund that Farmland had set aside for cleanup, which city staff has said now contains about $5 million.

Water storage on the former nitrogen fertilizer plant reached capacity last year, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment subsequently authorized river releases under certain monitoring conditions.

The site’s collection pumps remain off, and since KDHE authorized the discharge in November, the city has released 32 million gallons of nitrogen water into the river, KDHE said.

Too much nitrogen in the water can cause large algae blooms that harm water quality, habitats and decrease the oxygen that fish and other aquatic animals need to survive, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. High levels of nitrates in drinking water can be harmful to humans, especially infants.

KDHE has said there is now up to three years of storage available at the Farmland site, giving the city a window to develop and implement a new remediation plan. KDHE must approve any new remediation plan.

Current city staff and commission members inherited a mess — both figuratively and literally — in the Farmland property. The original plan — to pay for the cleanup through interest gained on the $8.5 million trust fund — fell far short in its estimates of the cleanup cost and the return on the trust fund investments.

The release of nitrogen-contaminated water into the Kansas River, although not ideal, was the best of the city’s limited options to deal with the cleanup. Here’s hoping that going forward, the city and its consultants can work together on a solution that deals with the Farmland waste once and for all.