Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
MARATHON COUNTY
SPENCER

Congressional District # 07

SPICKLER LANDFILL

EPA ID# WID980902969
Last Updated: April, 2008

Site Description

The Spickler Landfill site is a former municipal and industrial dump site, comprised of two fill areas totaling 10 acres on an 80-acre parcel of land. The site is located in a sparsely populated, rural area of Spencer, Wisconsin. The landfill operated as a municipal open dump. In December 1970, BASF Wyandotte received approval from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to construct an approximately 10,000-square foot clay-lined sludge disposal area at the landfill for mercury brine muds. Other industrial wastes known to have been disposed of in the Spickler Landfill include kalo dust that contained asbestos, disposed of by Weyerhauser Company, and toluene, xylenes, methyl-ethyl ketone, and methylene chloride, which was disposed of by Weinbrenner Shoe Company.

Private property owners live next to the landfill, including two homes directly west of the landfill and additional homes to the south and southwest of the landfill. The population of Spencer, Wisconsin, reported in the 2000 census, was 1,932 people. All residents use private well water. 

Site Responsibility

This site work is being conducted by potentially responsible parties' under federal enforcement authorities. 

Threats and Contaminants

Some landfill gas was detected onsite, and asbestos was confirmed to be present in a landfill cover soil sample. Leachate samples from the mercury brine pit contained elevated levels of calcium (3,340,000 ppb), magnesium (2,180,000 ppb), mercury (666 ppb), and nine organic compounds. Groundwater samples from monitoring wells showed exceedances of maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) drinking water standards for the following chemicals: benzene (8 ppb), vinyl chloride (39 ppb), barium (4,690 ppb), copper (2,250 ppb), iron (4,280 ppb), and manganese (54 ppb). Groundwater contamination has not moved off the property. Mercury was not detected in the groundwater samples, collected in July 1990; it was detected in monitoring well 15S at 0.2 ppb and monitoring well S1A at 0.31 ppb during sampling in January 1991. Eight private wells near the site were sampled. One well exceeded the Wisconsin Drinking Water Standard for manganese, one well exceeded for lead, one well exceeded for iron, and one well exceeded for copper. 

Cleanup Progress

On June 3, 1992, the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), BASF, Weyerhauser, and Weinbrenner Shoe Company, completed the  investigation and study under an enforcement agreement. EPA decided on a site cleanup plan on June 30, 1992; it required upgrade of the existing landfill cap and installation of leachate collection and landfill gas flare systems. The PRPs completed the cleanup design on December 20, 1993, under another enforcement agreement and completed cleanup construction under an enforcement order on September 29, 1995. An additional site cleanup decision document, to establish requirements for site close-out, was signed on September 29, 1998. Currently, groundwater and methane gas levels are monitored annually at the site.

The second five-year review of the site, completed in September 2005, determined that the remedy was functioning as planned and would continue to be protective of human health and the environment once recommended follow-up actions were taken.  Recommendations in the review included continued monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of land use restrictions. Work on ensuring the effectiveness of the restrictions is currently underway.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
mary tierney (tierney.mary@epa.gov)
(312) 886-4785

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
rafael gonzalez
(312) 886-0269

Aliases

SPICKLER LDFL

 

Site Profile Information

This profile provides you with information on EPA's cleanup progress at this Superfund site.