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Resident raises alarm over contaminants in monitoring well 19; DNR extends landfill review
Summary
A public commenter said monitoring well 19 detected 21 contaminants that matched test results from contaminated soil accepted as alternative daily cover. County staff said SEH finished sampling and that the Wisconsin DNR has requested up to a 60-day extension to complete its review of the landfill expansion feasibility study.
A resident raised concerns during public comment that monitoring well 19 contains the same volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in contaminated soil accepted at the county landfill, and asked county staff to investigate.
The commenter, identified in the record as KJ, said: “the new well 19 on August 27 showed 21 contaminants. Now some of those are heavy metals that get mobilized by well drilling, but 10 of them are VOCs that are identical to the highest level VOCs in the contaminated soil that was received in June.” KJ asked county staff whether the laboratory results for the monitoring well and for the North Point development site “match to a T.”
Stacy, speaking for county solid-waste operations during the meeting, said she could not immediately answer and that she would review the records. “I I I can't answer that, KJ. I'll have to look into it,” Stacy said. Later in the meeting Stacy told board members that the county had received analytical results when it accepted certain contaminated soils as alternative daily cover and that the county had followed its special waste management plan: “we are allowed to accept certain types of material contaminated soils.”
Stacy also told the board that the engineering firm SEH has completed the requested sampling and analyses the county submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as part of a landfill expansion feasibility package. The DNR has asked for an additional review period: board staff said the DNR requested “up to 60 days” more to decide whether the feasibility submission is complete.
Board members and staff discussed the process the DNR follows: Stacy said semiannual monitoring is performed in March and September and that exceedances would have triggered earlier notification. She also said the DNR is receiving substantial public comment, including open-records requests, related to the landfill review. On the volume of material accepted, Stacy said roughly 3,500 tons of material from the highway project was accepted as alternative daily cover after the county reviewed analytical data submitted with the application.
KJ and other meeting participants asked for follow-up. Stacy said she would review the meeting recording and the monitoring data and report back: “I'm gonna review this meeting and listen to her question again multiple times and then send it, look into what she's asking.”
Why it matters: The board's briefing ties an ongoing DNR review of a landfill expansion feasibility submission to public concerns that a newly sampled monitoring well contains contaminants similar to soils accepted earlier as alternative daily cover. The DNR's extended review window pauses final agency determination and lets the agency consider public comments and records requests before issuing a completeness determination that would advance or halt permitting steps.
Board members and staff said the county has submitted required monitoring and feasibility materials and is awaiting the DNR's determination. County staff repeatedly emphasized they would investigate the specific match allegation raised in public comment and provide a follow-up report to the board.
