Garbage Company Wants To
Trash Eau Claire County Forest
9/99
links to useful landfill/garbage sites

Superior Services (owned by a French congolmerate) has proposed converting 88 acres of Eau Claire County forest land into a dump.  The site is adjacent to the company's Seven Mile landfill which was sold to the company by Eau Claire County in 1996.  The proposal must be approved by the Department of Natural Resources for it to occur.

Northern Thunder believes this is bad public policy.  We should not convert our forests into trash cans for society's waste.  The proposal would also establish a precedent, perhaps opening the door to similar schemes in other areas of the state.

On very short notice, 64 people submitted public comments to the DNR on the Environmental Assessment of the proposal.  All opposed the plan.

We are urging people to continue contacting the DNR with their concerns.  In particular, we suggest that people contact Tom Lovejoy, who is reviewing the DNR's Environmental Assessment and determining what other actions the agency must take to comply with state law, Pat Murphy (who will be preparing the regional office's findings of fact on this issue), Bob Mather (the state DNR County Forest Specialist), and George Meyer, the head of the DNR.  Written comments can be sent to Tom Lovejoy at DNR, PO Box 4001, Eau Claire, WI 54702 or you can call him at 715-839-3747.

Below are some concerns that you may want to use in preparing more comments for DNR officials.

POINTS OF INFORMATION ON THE FOREST-TO-DUMP PROPOSAL
(Prepared by Northern Thunder)

  • "Is this location in the best public interest for additional landfill space?" - DNR Environmental Assessment, page 2.
  • "Withdrawal of county forest land for an expansion of a landfill facility could be precedent setting within the state." - DNR EA page 8
  • "Natural Resource 504.04 (3) (b)  [state codes] states that no person may establish or construct a landfill within 300 feet of any navigable river or stream…Given the size of the proposed acreage involved, the Department would be reluctant to grant an exemption to the 300’ setback requirement." - DNR EA Attachment I, page 1 letter to Steve Edge from Jack Tritt.
  • Six different forest stands populate the expansion site, including 21 acres of 60 year old pin oak. - DNR EA page 4.
  • "Endangered Resources may potentially include the Karner Blue butterfly within the withdrawal parcel….A known Karner population exists within ½ mile of the withdrawal parcel." - DNR EA page 4.
  • The County forest parcel sought by Superior Services has snowmobile trails, horseback trails, a disc golf course, and cross-country ski trails and is used for hunting purposes. - DNR EA page 2.
  • Seven Mile’s expansion site is located near Sevenmile Creek, which is classified as a Wisconsin Exceptional Water Resource and also listed as a #1 brook trout stream and the expansion would move the dump to within ¼ mile of the Eau Claire River. - DNR EA page 2.
  • In 1998, Superior Services dumped 28,961 tons of out-of-state waste in the Seven Mile Landfill.  This waste, largely from Minnesota, is more than ½ the annual total that Eau Claire Co. used to dispose of when they owned the landfill.  Wisconsin has become a garbage magnet for out-of-state waste as tipping fees for similar waste in other states is much higher - like the $16.65/ton surcharge Minnesota applies to such waste.
  • Seven Mile is filling up much faster than projected and now has a lifetime of only 7 years.  Superior Services (which is owned by a French conglomerate) buried 253,000 tons of trash in the landfill last year - 5 times the amount Eau Claire County used to annually bury.
  • Superior Services and Waste Management are among the chief lobbyists in Madison opposing refunding of local state recycling programs which are up for renewal in this year’s state budget.  Together they have spent more than $80,000 lobbying the legislature this year.  In addition, Superior Services has reduced the hours of operation for its drop-off recycling containers at the Seven Mile Landfill.
  • ALL LANDFILL LINERS AND LEACHATE COLLECTION SYSTEMS WILL FAIL ...  "First, even the best liner and leachate collection system will ultimately fail due to natural deterioration, and recent improvements in MSWLF containment technologies suggest that releases may be delayed by many decades at some landfills. For this reason, the [Environmental Protection] Agency is concerned that while corrective action may have already been triggered at many facilities, 30 years may be insufficient to detect releases at other landfills." Source: US EPA Federal Register, Aug 30, 1988, Vol.53, No.168.
  • The old Seymour Town landfill offers an option for expansion and it is already in need of clean-up from leaky contaminants.  Expansion here would lead to the clean-up and reduce the contamination of country forest land by a dump.  Superior Services is already working on plans to expand the existing Seven Mile site.  They are considering building the site out and up, perhaps as tall as the nearby forest fire tower.

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