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NPL Site Narrative for Refuse Hideaway Landfill
REFUSE HIDEAWAY LANDFILL
Middleton, Wisconsin
Federal Register Notice: October 14, 1992Conditions at Proposal (February 7, 1992): The Refuse Hideaway Landfill encompasses 23 acres of a 40-acre parcel of land in a rural area in Dane County, Wisconsin. It is off U.S. Highway 14, 2 miles west of Middleton and 4 miles east of Cross Plains.
Municipal, commercial, and industrial wastes were disposed of at the privately-owned unlined site between 1974 and 1988. The landfill owner reports receiving full barrels of glue and paint, spray paint booth by-products and paint stripper sludge, and spill residues containing methylene chloride, acetone, and other solvents. Based on volume calculations, the landfill could hold up to 1.2 million cubic yards of waste.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) closed the site under court order in 1988 when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were discovered in private wells southwest of the site. In late 1988, the owner closed the landfill according to the Wisconsin Administrative Code, covering it with 2 feet of clay, 18 inches of general soil, and 6 inches of top soil, and seeding the cover. In January 1989, the owner declared bankruptcy.
A WDNR inspection conducted in 1990 revealed that the cap is eroding. Tests conducted in 1991 by a WDNR consultant detected vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethene, methylene chloride, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, and trichloroethene in ground water downgradient of the site, including two private wells. Several of these compounds were disposed of at the site, according to the owner's records. An estimated 14,600 people obtain drinking water from public and private wells within 4 miles of the site. The nearest well, within 0.5 mile of the site, is a private well and is contaminated. Wells are also used to water cattle. One contaminated well has been taken out of service, and others have been outfitted with treatment systems. WDNR's 1991 data indicate that the plume of contaminated ground water extends as far as 3,800 feet southwest of the site.
In 1991, WDNR started to operate a system to collect methane gas and leachate.
Status (October 1992): WDNR is planning to repair surface erosion on the landfill.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.