The comments urge environmental regulators to recognize and enforce Wisconsin’s own soil cleanup standards to define the area of remediation in the park. The DNR is currently reviewing the September 15, 2021 Site Investigation Report (SIR) from the City of Wausau and its consultants, REI, regarding Riverside Park (02-37-584785 Riverside Rail Corridor). On October 4, 2021, Citizens for a Clean …
Archived congressional records acquired from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point library indicate that, in 1986, there was a dioxin catastrophe of such proportions on Wausau’s southwest side related to the SNE site that the EPA wanted to send in “an emergency response team.” The handwritten notes from Obey’s staffer go on to suggest that the EPA “was ready to …
According to the WSAW Channel 7, in the past, local residents sued parties related to the former Crestline windows factory along Thomas Street, alleging that pentachlorophenol and dioxins from the site had contaminated the neighborhood on Wausau’s southwest side: “From 1946 to 1986, a product known as Penta was commonly used at the Crestline plant. In 2011, during a special …
On February 24, the WDNR notified the City of Wausau that additional soil sampling is required to fully define the extent of dioxin contamination in the neighborhood park Years of Denial, Pushback, and Delay from City Officials and Departments Marked the History of Park Testing: “There’s nothing that says there are issues in Riverside Park” Soil testing in the recent …
Results from the City of Wausau’s own September 2020 soil sampling in Riverside Park show that multiple sample locations demonstrated exceedances of state DNR regulatory standards for a non-industrial setting. The City’s environmental consultant, REI Engineering, performed the soil sampling and the analysis of the results which came from Pace Laboratories. REI’s analytical spreadsheet of the latest testing results was …
This year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) sent the City of Wausau a Responsible Party letter to investigate and cleanup soil with dioxin levels far lower than were found in Riverside Park years ago. Yet, to this day, no substantive action has been taken by the DNR or City in or by the park where the higher soil …
According to the DNR letter, the City of Wausau is responsible for the “discharge of a hazardous substance or other environmental pollution.” The letter references 132 River Street as the specific site of contamination. The DNR has confirmed that the pollution in question is dioxin contamination that exceeds state soil standards for a residential setting.
Results are in from soil samples that were professionally taken for Citizens for a Clean Wausau by Sand Creek Consultants and sent to Pace Analytical — a DNR-certified laboratory — for analysis. Three samples were taken in Riverside Park in November 2019, and the sample with the highest dioxin level — based on TEQ — was five times higher than …
After a year and a half of community concern and deliberation at City Hall regarding Riverside Park, on Tuesday, October 22, the Wausau City Council approved the request of Citizens for a Clean Wausau (CCW) for access to the park to take soil samples and analyze them for dioxins and furans. Results from 2006 private soil samples near a culvert …
The EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool. It is based on nationally consistent data and an approach that combines environmental and demographic indicators in maps and reports.
An air permit search tool from the Department of Natural Resources. Search for information on individual permits, and copies of permits and related records.
DNR Pages for Sites of Interest on Wausau’s Southwest Side