Mike, a county staff member, updated the Harvey County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 2 about an underground natural gas release detected in the Fox Ridge housing development in Newton and the ongoing multiagency response. "Our objectives remain ensuring the safety of all personnel working at the site, ensuring the safety of the residents in the area, maintaining situational awareness, continuing subsurface and above surface air monitoring," he said.

County officials said there is not a known immediate threat to the public at large, but the situation remains developing. The county reported that a potential gas release was first detected on Aug. 22; Kansas Gas Service and other agencies collected subsurface readings that day, and residents in the immediate vicinity were asked to evacuate as a precaution. Environmental contractors and laboratory testing began later in the week to identify the chemical makeup of the release.

The matter drew emergency actions from local and state officials: on Aug. 26 the county commission approved a local disaster emergency declaration to enable requests for state assistance, and on Aug. 28 Kansas Governor Laura Kelly issued a disaster emergency proclamation for Harvey County. At the Sept. 2 meeting commissioners voted to extend the county declaration until Sept. 16 so the county can continue to coordinate the response while the incident remains under investigation.

Officials described ongoing monitoring and mitigation steps. The county said Kansas Gas Service is conducting sampling and pressure testing; a county staff member named Chase said the independent samples taken by the utility were at the lab and had "not spoke on that yet." County and public-safety agencies are conducting subsurface and above-surface air monitoring; Newton Fire and EMS are running the above-surface monitoring and Kansas Gas Service is performing below-surface sampling.

County staff provided a unit-level accounting of the housing development as part of their status update: 17 units were reported as occupied and 7 vacant; of the occupied units there were multiple housing outcomes for residents — county staff reported that three are staying off-site, five accepted assistance and are staying in hotels, eight units' occupants "elected to stay," and one occupant could not be contacted. The county said the cause of the release is not known and remains under investigation.

Kevin, the county administrator, told commissioners the county is paying initial costs for environmental consulting and construction oversight from its stabilization reserve. Staff estimated the initial environmental consulting contract at about $44,000 and said that figure does not represent the total potential cost of the response; the county will seek other sources of financial assistance and reimbursement as available.

Public-safety staff listed participating agencies: Kansas Corporation Commission, Kansas Division of Emergency Management, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas State Fire Marshal, Kansas Gas Service, Kansas Geological Survey, Newton Fire and EMS, Harvey County Emergency Management, and SCS Engineers.

Commissioners directed staff to continue coordination with state agencies and monitor lab results. They voted to extend the emergency declaration to Sept. 16 to preserve access to state resources while sampling and analysis proceed.

Ending: County officials said a final determination of the source and a remediation plan will follow lab results and further investigation. The county will continue to update residents in the immediate area as new information becomes available.