State-funded Response

• What is State-funded Response?
• Examples of State-funded Response Activities
• Who Conducts State-funded Response Activities?
• How are Sites Chosen for State-funded Response Projects?
• State-funded Response Highlights

What is State-funded Response?

State-funded response is a process that occurs when the state – through the DNR – provides resources and tools to communities to address contamination issues that endanger public health and the environment.

Under Section 20.370(2)(dv) of the Wisconsin Statues, the DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program uses appropriations from the state’s Environmental Fund to take action at sites in need of immediate or long-term response.

Cases where the RR Program utilizes state funds generally fall into the following four categories.

• Orphan Sites – Properties or areas of concern where a responsible party (RP) - i.e. the individual/entity responsible for the contamination – is unknown, unwilling or unable to pay for necessary remediation.
• Spill Responses – Locations where recent spills pose a public health or environmental threat that must be addressed immediately.
• Abandoned Containers – Some properties have containers or barrels which hold hazardous materials, many of which are dumped by unknown parties.
• Bottled Water – The RR Program uses state funds to provide potable water to homes in areas where contamination makes local drinking water unsafe.

For state-funded response actions where the RPs are unknown, unwilling or unable to pay for the cost of the state response, the RR Program will attempt to recover the cost after the project is complete.

Back to Top

Examples of State-funded Response Activities

State funds can be used to finance a variety of activities, including:

• site investigations;
• design and installation of multimillion dollar landfill caps;
• providing emergency water to residents with contaminated drinking water sources;
• installation of treatment systems to remove pollutants from groundwater;
• contracts for construction oversight; and
• operation and maintenance of treatment facilities and other remediation activities.

In 2008, the state spent $2 million to help fund investigations and cleanup activities at 64 sites around the state.

Back to Top

Who Conducts State-funded Response Activities?

The RR Program oversees state-funded response actions. The RR Program has authority to hire environmental consultants and contracting firms. These private companies conduct cleanups and other activities to the best technical standards that are economically feasible at the time.

If you are a consultant or contractor interested in being considered for state-funded work, please contact Bob Strous (608.266.2699).

Back to Top

How are Sites Chosen for State-funded Response Projects?

A site can move into and out of the state-funded response process anytime from site discovery through completed cleanup. State funding is usually targeted at sites which pose an immediate health concern to people or where not acting could result in much greater costs down the line. Other sites are chosen because there is simply no one else to respond to the problem, and without state help, the site would continue to pose a public and/or environmental health threat.

Back to Top

State-funded Response Highlights

To learn about other RR Program successes, including those projects utilizing state-funded response dollars, please see the RR Success Stories page. The page includes a chart with links to individual success stories involving the RR Program and a list of assistance received for each site (e.g. funding, liability, technical, etc.).

• Caring for the ‘Orphans’ – Years of effort and millions of dollars help restore abandoned contaminated properties. Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine, August 2006

Hog Island Inlet & Newton Creek

Signs reading “No Swimming” were posted along the Hog Island Inlet in the mid 1990s after DNR testing showed high levels of contamination in the Superior-area waterway in northern Wisconsin. Unhealthy levels of oil, grease and heavy metals such as zinc and chromium were found in Newton Creek, which feeds the inlet and eventually flows to the St. Louis River. The pollution was likely caused by rain runoff and wastewater discharges from local industry, including a nearby refinery.

The RR Program teamed up with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Legacy Act Program, city of Superior, Douglas County and private industry to fund cleanup of the 17-acre inlet and 1.5 mile creek. State-funded support paid for approximately one-third of the $6.2 million dollar cleanup. Using that money, 3,200 truck loads of contaminated sediment – more than 60,000 tons! – were removed from the creek and inlet. The end of the 10 year project culminated with the 2005 removal of the “No Swimming” signs from the Hog Island Inlet shore.

Minocqua City Well

One of the main goals of state-funded response actions is to protect Wisconsin communities dealing with difficult environmental challenges. Sometimes that responsibility can last for decades. In Minocqua, routine sampling of drinking water in 1984 found that the city’s only operating drinking water well was contaminated. Tests found perchloroethylne, known as “perc”, a chemical often used by dry cleaners. In this case, the perc had found its way into an important groundwater source.

Remediation and Redevelopment Program staff searched for a solution. Perc takes a long time to break down, and removing it from the ground was problematic. An extraction well was installed to intercept the contaminants before they reached the municipal well. Eventually, a sophisticated vapor extraction system was installed, to draw the perc out of the soil and trap it in carbon filters. To this day, state-funded response dollars continue to protect the safe drinking water of Minocqua residents, as remediation at the site continues.

Mobile Blasting

Mobile Blasting in West Milwaukee had all the characteristics of a classic brownfield “diamond in the rough.” The former sand blasting and painting operation closed shop in the early 1990s. While the property was in an ideal location for redevelopment – near Miller Park statdium and Interstate 94 – severe environmental contamination at the site made it a tough sell for any prospective buyer.

In order to remediate the site, West Milwaukee received $1.8 million for state-funded activities, including investigation and cleanup. Grants from other state agencies assisted in the project. The city worked with private developers to build the new Stadium Business Center, which was completed in 2002. The Center consists of a 44,000 square-foot office and warehouse facility that houses six businesses and employs approximately 130 people.

Back to Top

For more information on the page contact :

Bob Strous