COVER FEATURE

SUPERFUNDED

After many years, the cleanup of toxic chemicals in a little town in northern Wisconsin can fi nally continue.

As part of President Joe Biden’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, $3.5 billion was allotted for the cleanup of backlogged contamination sites. In the fi rst wave of funding, a site in Daniels, Wisconsin — an unincorporated town near the Minnesota border — was chosen to receive fi nancial support, the Environmental Protection Agency announced in December.

Th e Wisconsin Department of Resources announced last month it had received $1.4 million in federal funds. Work is scheduled to start this summer and continue into the winter.

“For more than 100 years, the upper Midwest was the nation’s industrial center,” Debra Shore, an EPA Regional Administrator, said in a release. “But when factories and mills closed they left behind a legacy of toxic sites that are challenging to clean up.”

Th e Daniels siteonce housed Penta Wood Products, a wood treatment facility that operated from 1953 to 1992, according to the EPA. Th e business used a chemical called pentachlorophenol, an industrial wood preservative, to treat posts and telephone poles by dipping them in an open tank. Th e chemical must now be removed or neutralized, the EPA said.

Penta Wood dumped wastewater into a gully, resulting in soil and groundwater contaminated with pentachlorophenol and arsenic, the EPA said. Th e DNR fi rst investigated Penta Wood in 1986 and found the contamination.

Excavation of soil near the wetlands is scheduled for late summer or early fall, said Celine Wysgalla, a project manager for the EPA.

High doses of those chemicals can be deadly in groundwater in the short term, and long-term eff ects include various cancers and skin discoloration or soreness, according to the World Health Organization.

Penta Wood voluntarily closed in 1992 after the Wisconsin Department of Justice fi led an injunction due to the contamination, and a court ruled that Penta Wood had to pay to remove contaminated soil, according to the EPA. Penta Wood said it could not aff ord the price of removal, leading to a fi ne of $37,400 for damages.

In 1996, the EPA designated the property a Superfund site, which allows the federal agency to clean it up.

Th e EPA removed approximately 28 storage tanks fi lled

The EPA removed approximately 28 storage tanks fi lled with ‘liquid and sludge,’ plus thousands of gallons of a mixture of chemicals and oil...

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with “liquid and sludge,” plus thousands of gallons of a mixture of chemicals and oil, the agency said. It also removed some soil and wood chips, and stabilized more with a concrete mixture. It built a water treatment system alongside groundwater extraction wells.

Since then, the site has seen only slight changes, as the EPA — and starting in 2014, the DNR — monitored the progress made by those cleanup structures.

“Th is is work we’ve been trying to do for a while,” Wysgalla said. “Addressing the backlog of sites that we have that need work done in of itself is a success.”

Th e EPA has conducted a review every fi ve years since construction of the cleanup structures was completed, with the most recent in 2020. Th at report found that PCP and arsenic levels in the ground surrounding the area are still high, which could pose a threat in the long term.

“Th is is a great opportunity to address some of these sites that have been waiting for a little while,” Tim Fischer, an EPA Remedial Branch Manager said. “Th rough the infrastructure law, we have enough funding to start on all of those sites.”

Th e DNR says it plans to excavate more soil near wetlands around the 80-acre property with the federal money.

Th e EPA has identifi ed 56 chemical spill sites in Wisconsin, and more than 1,800 across the country. Many of these sites in Wisconsin are near Madison or Milwaukee. Racial minorities and those below the poverty level are more likely to live within a mile of a chemical spill, according to a 2020 EPA study. The Badger Project is a nonparti san, citi zen-supported journalism nonprofi t in Wisconsin.

Superfund sites in Marathon County

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund site list, there are four superfund sites in Marathon County. One of those sites, in the town and village of Unity, was added only in March of this year. Two of the four came about because of landfi ll uses; one because of a gas station/dry cleaner and one due to a variety of causes including a chemical plant that has since moved.

Town of Cleveland, Mid-State Disposal Landfi ll Hazardous Score: 35/100 Site location: SW1/4 SEC4 T27N R4E Th is landfi ll, located on 160 acres of land, is four miles northeast of the village of Stratford. It was in operation from 1970-1979, and took waste from industrial and municipal sources. Th at includes paper mill sludges, asbestos, solvents, pesticides, paint sludge and metals. Th e site was identifi ed in 1983 and cleanup started in 1990. City of Spencer, Spickler Landfi ll Hazardous score: 44/100 Site location: Route 2, Eckes Road, Spencer, WI Th e superfund site covers the Spickler Landfi ll, a former industrial and municipal dump. It’s two areas covering 10 acres total. Th ere are a number of diff erent types of contamination on the site, including mercury brine mud waste, asbestos, and a number of VOCs. Th e site was identifi ed in 1983 and removal of dangerous chemicals began in 1992. City of Unity, Unity Auto Mart Site location: 102 North Front St. UNITY, WI 54488 Th e Unity Auto Mart location site was added to the EPA’s National Priority List in March of this year. Th e former gas station/convenience store operated since the 1960s, with a dry cleaning business added from 1979 to 1984. Th e store was open until 2012, and is now vacant. Private wells in Unity were later found to contain tetrachloroethene, according to EPA reports. Wausau Groundwater Contamination Harzardous Score: 29/100 Site location: Wausau Riverfront and northeast side In 1982, three of the wells were found to be impacted by VOCs, according to the EPA. Th e city in 84 constructed carbon fi lters in the city’s water plant to fi lter the water, then later two air strippers to ensure the water isn’t contaminated. Two sources are identifi ed in EPA documentation: the city’s old municipal landfi ll, south of city well No. 6; and the former Wausau Chemical facility, southeast of city well No. 3. Wausau Chemical has since moved to the city’s industrial park. Th e city is now dealing with elevated levels of PFAS found in all six of the city’s wells.

Want to fi nd other superfund sites?

Th is database from the Environmental Protection Agency will help you sort sites by state and county.

Check it out at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live

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