The Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites

Prior to development of on-line databases, DNR provided public information about old waste disposal facilities in a printed publication called the Registry of Waste Disposal Sites (the "Registry"). DNR now provides searchable on-line databases with this type of information. DNR is reviewing information in the 1999 version of the printed "Registry" in order to put the relevant information into on-line databases. Because some information in the "Registry" has not yet been reviewed and moved into other databases, DNR's Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites spreadsheet is available, which shows information that has been reviewed and the results of those reviews.

Information on this page will be important to people purchasing land, governments planning redevelopment, businesses planning expansion and well drillers.

• Current Waste Disposal Site Information
• What was the Registry of Waste Disposal Sites?
• Registry Screening Process
• Important Information About the Spreadsheet
• The Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites Spreadsheet
• Contact Information
• Further Information about Contaminated Properties in Wisconsin

Current Waste Disposal Site Information

Today, the primary source of information about properties where solid waste has been disposed in Wisconsin is the Solid & Hazardous Waste Information Management System (SHWIMS). This on-line database includes locations and facilities regulated by DNR’s Waste and Materials Management program, including:

• engineered and licensed solid waste disposal facilities;
• older unlicensed waste disposal sites (e.g. town dumps);
• licensed waste transporters;
• hazardous waste generators;
• composting sites, wood-burning sites, waste processing facilities and more.

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What was the Registry of Waste Disposal Sites?

The Registry of Waste Disposal Sites (1999) is an obsolete printed DNR publication that listed known or suspected locations where waste may have been disposed. DNR printed the first version of the "Registry" in 1984 after the Wisconsin Legislature directed DNR to publish a list of abandoned landfills. Several other updates may still be in use.

In an attempt to create a comprehensive list, DNR solicited information from a wide variety of sources, including the general public, prior to the first publication in 1984. However, DNR was not able to verify the accuracy or importance of all this information prior to publishing. By 1999, DNR had made a total of 4,300 entries into the "Registry", including places where:

• local governments disposed of municipal garbage;
• industries disposed of wastes such as foundry sand, coal ash, paper mill sludge, demolition debris and other substances; and
• large or small amounts of wastes may have been deposited, sometimes by individuals.

If a site was listed in the "Registry," it did not mean that the soil or groundwater was contaminated. It simply meant that the DNR has some type of record suggesting that waste disposal occurred.

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Registry Screening Process

Beginning in 2000, EPA provided funding for DNR to review the entries in the 1999 version of the "Registry" to evaluate the accuracy and significance of the information, which had never before been done. These reviews include both site visits and review of available state files. The federal funding is limited and completing these reviews is expected to take several years. Ultimately, the information about the sites listed in the "Registry" will be:

• entered in the SHWIMS database if waste disposal was probable,
• entered in the Contaminated Lands Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) if contaminated soil or groundwater is probable, or
• “archived” if neither of the above is probable.

DNR’s progress in reviewing the sites in the 1999 "Registry" is now available through a spreadsheet called the Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites. This spreadsheet will be updated every six months. Users can consult the updated spreadsheet to see which of the original sites have been reviewed by DNR and which have been moved into the SHWIMS database, the CLEAN database, or neither. Some of site names may have been modified to meet SHWIMS database nomenclature protocols.

The Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites Spreadsheet will be phased out after the reviews of sites in the "Registry" is completed and all historic and active waste disposal sites are available in the SHWIMS database.

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Important Information About the Historic Registry Spreadsheet

Legal Requirements

• You must obtain DNR approval to install a water supply well within 1200 feet of a waste disposal site in a spreadsheet, unless it has been designated as “Archived." Not all sites are listed in the spreadsheets – also consult the SHWIMS database for information about waste disposal sites. For information about private drinking water wells in Wisconsin, please visit Drinking Water & Groundwater Program's Well Web page. To contact regional DNR drinking water staff, see the Drinking Water and Groundwater Staff Contacts Web page.
• You must obtain DNR approval for construction on waste disposal sites. For more information, please see the Remediation & Redevelopment Program's Development on Historic Fill Sites and Licensed Landfills Web page.

General Information

• There are separate tabs in the spreadsheet for each of DNR’s five regions. Please consult the DNR regional map [PDF 31KB] to find the counties in each region.
• For a list of currently licensed operating landfills, please see the Waste & Materials Management Program's list of Solid Waste Landfills Licensed in Wisconsin. [PDF 46KB]
• The Historic Registry spreadsheet does not identify all license numbers for currently licensed waste disposal facilities and should not be used regarding potential liability exemptions for unlicensed waste disposal sites. Wisconsin Act 418 (s. 292.23, Wis. Stats.) provided these exemptions in 2006 for local governments and private parties. For more information about the exemptions, please see the Remediation & Redevelopment Program's 2006 Brownfields Legislation Web page. For help regarding these statutory exemptions, please contact Dan Kolberg, DNR (608.267.7500 ).
• For a list of Wisconsin Superfund sites, please see the Remediation & Redevelopment Program's Superfund web page.

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The Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites Spreadsheet

Instructions: click on the spreadsheet link below, then save the document to your computer.

• Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites Spreadsheet [XLS 2,893KB] - updated February 3, 2009

For more information about the spreadsheet, please read Explanation of Columns in the Spreadsheet [PDF 68KB]. Also, see the Map of DNR Regions [PDF, 31KB].

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Contact Information

If you have questions about a location in a Historic Registry of Waste Disposal Sites spreadsheet, you may request an appointment to review DNR’s file. Most of this file information is quite old and may be incomplete. To view a file, please contact the appropriate regional DNR Waste and Materials Management staff.

If you have questions about the Historic Waste Registry review process, contact the appropriate regional DNR Remediation & Redevelopment staff person listed below.

• Map of DNR Regions [PDF 31KB]

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Further Information about Contaminated Properties in Wisconsin

Being listed in the Historic Registry spreadsheet does not mean that soil or groundwater is contaminated. If you are looking for this type of information, please consult the Contaminated Lands Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), DNR’s on-line information system about properties with contamination. CLEAN provides both a comprehensive on-line database and a Web-based mapping system to find information about:

• cleanups that are underway and completed;
• environmental liability clarifications and limitations;
• use of brownfield loans and grants to complete cleanups;
• post-cleanup environmental land use controls;
• spills of hazardous substances;
• leaking underground petroleum tanks; and
• waste disposal sites where contamination has spread into soil or groundwater.