De Soto Chamber of Commerce said the 300 acres where the new battery factory will be built has been cleaned up

De Soto Chamber of Commerce said the 300 acres where the new battery factory will be built has been cleaned up

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De Soto Chamber of Commerce said the 300 acres where the new battery factory will be built has been cleaned up

The work is now just beginning after Panasonic announced a new deal to spend billions of dollars on a new factory to make batteries for electric cars in De Soto.

The new factory will be located at the old Sunflower Ammunition Plant, a World War II-era factory south of Kansas Highway 10.

That site has been closed for decades due to environmental issues.

KMBC obtained a March 1990 Environmental Protection Agency letter discussing a PCB contamination issue at the plant.

EPA records also show the old ammunition plant listed as a superfund site.

Members of the De Soto Chamber of Commerce said the 300 acres where the new battery factory will be built has been cleaned up. However, some 9,000 acres in the area were contaminated.

De Soto Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Andy Jacober said all that cleanup work is expected to be done by 2028.

KMBC was referred to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to answer questions about the safety of the battery factory site and the ongoing environmental cleanup nearby. So far, there has been no response.

There is currently a long gravel road leading to the battery factory site.

"There's some infrastructure that has to be done. Obviously, some roads and some sewer and some electric," Jacober said.

Johnson County Community College has been involved in the Panasonic deal since last fall.

The college, along with other academic institutions, will be working on a deal with Panasonic to train the company's workforce for the battery factory. It comes at a time when the labor market is tight.

"It's a challenge. It's a challenge throughout the country right now. But with the right training, we can have the right fit of employee to employer," said Elisa Waldman, the JCCC vice president of workforce development.

The plant at its height is expected to bring about 4,000 new jobs to Johnson County. Like the labor market, the housing market is also tight.

"We need housing. We have some land. We need developers. We need builders. We could use rentals. The 4,000 jobs aren't going to be right away so, over the years, we need to keep building on providing housing," said Kris Johnson, a De Soto Chamber of Commerce member who is also a realtor.

Bryan Holloman has lived in De Soto for about 25 years.

He was caught off guard by the plan to build the new battery factory.

"I always kind of like the quiet setting that De Soto is and so any kind of growth like this makes me go oh no, we’re going to lose our quiet little town," Holloman said.

While he said he is leery about De Soto turning into a boomtown, Holloman also sees the upside.

"Progress is progress. I like the idea of adding some industry out here, especially with the Sunflower plant not being used like it used to be," he said.

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