13 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY TECHNICAL ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT AT HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES EPA REGION V CONTRACT NO. 68-01-7351 WORK ASSIGNMENT NO. 535 COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLAN CITY DISPOSAL TOWN OF DUNN, WISCONSIN JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC. PROJECT NUMBER: 05-B535-00 JULY 1988 I I TABLE OF CONTENTS Page SECTION 1.0 Introduction........................_............................................................................................... 1 SECTION 2.0 Site History...............................................................................................................................3 SECTION 3.0 Community Profile........................................................................................................™^ SECTION 4.0 Issues and Concerns.........._..............................................................................................7 SECTION 5.0 Community Relations Objectives and Activities ..................................................9 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: Regional Map................................._............................................................................................. FIGURE 2: Site Map......_...._.„..................._.._........................................................................................... FIGURE 3: Implementation Timeline......................................_............................................................... APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Mailing List........................™.......................................................................................................... APPENDIX B: Public Meeting Locations and Information Repositories ................................................................................................................................. APPENDIX C: Glossary of terms and acronyms........................................................................................... 1.0 INTRODUCTION This community relations plan has been developed to prepare for community relations activities to be conducted prior to and during the remedial activities at the City Disposal Corporation Landfill site in the Town of Dunn, Wisconsin. The purpose of this document is to provide information about community concerns and present a plan to enhance communication between local residents and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). This plan will be revised as the remedial activities at the site move toward completion and community concerns are reassessed. Information presented in this document was obtained from the U.S. EPA; the Madison, Wisconsin public library; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), and interviews with township and county officials, and residents of the Town of Dunn. The interviews were conducted in January 1988. This community relations plan consists of the following sections: o A description and brief history of the site; o A profile of the Town of Dunn community; o A discussion of past community involvement with the site and present community concerns about the site, and o A discussion of community relations objectives for the site and activities designed to implement them. This community relations plan contains several appendices, including a mailing list of interested parties and organizations; a list of suggested locations : for public meetings and information repositories, and a glossary of acronyms and technical terms. 1.1 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE SUPERFUND PROCESS The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund) was enacted in December 1980. The new law established a program to provide for the investigation and cleanup of actual or potential releases of hazardous substances throughout the United States. U.S. EPA administers the Superfund program in cooperation with individual states. The Superfund process involves several steps after initial identification of a potential site. After an initial inspection by the state or U.S. EPA, the site is evaluated for its potential impact on the health and environment of the community using the Hazard Ranking System (HRS). If the site poses a serious enough threat to the community, it is placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), a roster of the nation's most serious hazardous waste sites. Sites on the NPL are eligible for federal cleanup money under the Superfund program. After the site is placed on the NPL, U.S. EPA plans and conducts a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) at the site. The RI/FS is a long-term study to identify the nature and extent of contamination from the site and to evaluate alternative remedies for contamination problems. After the public has had an opportunity to provide input, U.S. EPA selects the most appropriate alternative as a final remedy, which it then designs and implements. If potentially responsible parties (PRPs) can be identified and are willing to cooperate, one or more of the PRPs may pay for and conduct the RI/FS under U.S. EPA and WDNR supervision. Waste Management of Wisconsin, Inc. (WMI) was identified as a PRP at the site. 2.0 SITE HISTORY The City Disposal Corporation Landfill site occupies 38 acres of land just west of Sand Hill Road in the Town of Dunn, Wisconsin (Figure 1). The site is known variously by local residents as the Sand Hill Dump, the Blatterman Farm Dump and by the name used herein, the City Disposal Corporation Landfill. The site is located in a predominantly agricultural area, about 700 feet southwest of Grass Lake. Grass Lake is reported to be a habitat for Sand Hill cranes and other wildlife species. A residential subdivision is located southwest of the site, and a i wooded lowland is located immediately south of the site. Badf ish Creek is located 300 feet east of the site (Figure 2). The creek is a man-made drainage channel into which the City of Madison discharges its treated waste water. Runoff from the site also drains into Badfish Creek. The site was opened in 1966 by City Disposal Corporation, later known as Waste Management of Wisconsin, Inc. (WMI) on property leased from the Blatterman family. The site was licensed as a solid and hazardous waste landfill by WDNR in 1971 and it was closed by the Town of Dunn in 1977. During its years of operation the site was divided into 12 cells (figure i.). Eleven of these cells were for the disposal of municipal waste. Hazardous waste was disposed of in •u «yB&y. fJA «. a^U. VL in. tJut *&&. swift. <iC iJwt «JA Ctom. 196A unJjUL AjjtU. L97L According to WDNR memoranda, 55-gallon drums and bulk liquid waste were deposited at the site during its years of operation. It was reported that the Uniroyal Company disposed of approximately 100 drums per day and Graber Industries disposed of 30 drums every 10 days. The hazardous waste disposal operation was phased out in April 1975. In total, approximately 27 million gallons of potentially hazardous waste were disposed of at the site. The site was closed in 1977 when the town board rejected a proposal by City Disposal to expand the facility. WMI purchased the property from the owners in 1981. I 1 I 1 Figure 1 Site Location Map City Disposal Corporation Landfill Dunn Township, Wisconsin JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC. I MVWONMNUL(TITIM* OMMON Figure 2 Site Map City Disposal Corporation Landfill Dunn Township, Wisconsin Cell Location Numbers of Disposal Site Not to Scale Residential Subdivision JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC. JE WVMOMMMUI rnnw oivntoN In 1983, the inactive site was called to the attention of WDNR officials who were investigating other potentially uncontrolled hazardous waste sites in Dane County (Hagen Farm and Every Farm). The WDNR officials noted similarities in the disposal practices at the sites and decided to further investigate the City Disposal Corporation site. WDNR tested 11 on-site monitoring wells for the presence of chemical contaminants in 1983. Several volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which have been identified by U.S. EPA as cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) were detected in the wells, including trichloroethylene; 1,2-dichloroethane; benzene; vinyl chloride, and tetrachloroethylene. Additional organic solvents detected in the monitoring wells included: acetone; chloroethane; chlorofluoromethane; dichlorofluoromethane; 1,2- dichloroethylene; tetrahydrof uran; tolune; xylene; ethyl benzene; trichlorofluoromethane, and trichlorotrifluoroethane. Testing of surface water from Badfish Creek indicated the presence of various organic compounds, the origin of which could not be verified. WDNR also tested four nearby private wells. VOCs were not detected in any of the wells. WDNR evaluated the site to determine whether it should be proposed of inclusion on the Superfund NPL. Waste Management of Wisconsin was identified as a potentially responsible party (PRP) and signed a consent order in June 1987 to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS). 3.0 COMMUNITY PROFILE The Town of Dunn is an unincorporated township, located about 10 miles southeast of Madison, Wisconsin in Dane County. The township is a mix of rural and bedroom communities. With a population of about 5,000 residents, the town is larger than the two adjacent municipalities, McFarland and Oregon. While sewer and other services found in nearby villages are lacking in Dunn, the town does manage its own solid waste disposal facility. The town has restrictive land use zoning plan which is intended to maintain the rural nature of the community. Town officials feel that larger developments and industry