Docs: DNR Covertly Surveilled Connor Forest Industries on Thomas St. – 1982 Estimate Shows 90K+ Gallons Dumped at Property
- 1300 Cleveland Avenue, 131 W Thomas Street, Connor Forest Industries, Historical Documents
- December 5, 2018
Source: Wisconsin DNR and City of Wausau Through Open Records Requests by a Wausau Resident and Now CCW Volunteer
Citizens for a Clean Wausau begins its series of documents related to the former Connor Forest Industries facility along Thomas Street and Cleveland Avenue
The Planning Commission and the Wausau City Council recently rezoned 1300 Cleveland Avenue (formerly the Wausau Incubator and, prior to that, a part of the larger Connor Forest Industries property) from M2, General Industrial District to R4, General Residence District.
No Phase I Environmental Investigation has yet been done for possible residential development in the future.
From government documents and past media reports, the former Connor property on the southwest side of town had a series of serious environmental matters over the decades – only some of which the public at large was well-informed of, seemingly. DNR and EPA involvement peppers the former larger property’s history (long-since divided up among various owners, including the City of Wausau).
Anonymous Informant and DNR Clandestine Surveillance
“As we walked away from the spill area, one of the many employees watching us from the warehouse yelled, ‘Where Connor goes, nothing grows!'”
— DNR Documents Below
DNR-Connor-Surveillance-1981-And-Anonymous-Complaint
DNR Estimate of 91,520 Gallons Dumped at Property Over Just Four Years
Estimate-Waste-Dumped-1982
The City now owns a portion of the former property where the Wausau Incubator had once resided. Reports show that some of the City Council in the 1980s had deep reservations about the property’s environmental fitness and, therefore, the City’s possible involvement with it. Ultimately, environmental indemnification agreements from both the Connor company and SNE (which had been owned by Sentry Insurance) across the street were provided to the City of Wausau prior to the council passing related resolutions.
connor-sne-orr-document
This is the first in an extended series on the former Connor Forest Industries property.
