Rosecrans Properties LLC Has Purchased the Wauleco Property in Wausau
- Commercial Development Company Inc., Environmental Liability Transfer Inc., Rosecrans Properties LLC, SNE / Wauleco / Sentry Insurance
- April 15, 2025
Rosecrans Properties LLC has purchased the contaminated Wauleco site along Thomas Street in Wausau.
Rosecrans Properties LLC is an affiliate of Environmental Liability Transfer, Inc. Environmental Liability Transfer, Inc. is listed as a corporate affiliate of Commercial Development Company, Inc. on its website. Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions lists a registered effective date for Rosecrans Properties LLC of 12/06/2024. The principal office listed for the LLC is 1515 Des Peres Road, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63131.
According to public records on the DNR’s website, identified historical contamination associated with the Wauleco site includes pentachlorophenol and dioxins, among other contaminants.
Despite years of remediation at the site, within the last decade, the DNR stated that there could be up to 420,000 gallons of free product of pentachlorophenol remaining in the subsurface of Wausau’s southwest side. “Free product” was defined by the DNR as “a discharged hazardous substance that is present in the environment in its pure form.” According to a once-confidential 1984 SNE memo, Koppers manufactured the pentachlorophenol and pentachlorophenol contains dioxin: “Pentachlorophenol does contain HxCDD which is a dioxin. It is not as harmful as the dioxins found in Times Beach, Missouri or Agent Orange, but the one word, carcinogen, makes this a very important issue.”
Soil dioxin testing on the Wauleco site in the 1980s revealed levels as high as 174 parts per billion (ppb) dioxin TEQ at a 6″ depth. For comparison, the direct contact soil dioxin TEQ limit in Wisconsin for industrial properties is 22 parts per trillion (ppt). Samples associated with the site also indicated levels as high as 2,600 ppb dioxin TEQ from the floating product layer on top of the water table.
In 2011, Wausau’s WSAW News Channel 7 aired an investigative report featuring reporter John DesRivieres about the Wauleco site. The investigate report can be viewed below in its entirety.
