I 8 81 FINAL COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLAN FOR MASTER DISPOSAL SERVICE SITE WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN DECEMBER 1985 Prepared for: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Emergency and Remedial Response Branch Region V 230 South Dearborn Street Chicago. Illinois 60604 EPA Region 5 Records Ctr. 232484 0 6 1986 FINAL COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLAN FOR MASTER DISPOSAL SERVICE SITE WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN DECEMBER 1985 Prepared for: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Emergency and Remedial Response Branch Region V 230 South Dearborn Street Chicago, Illinois 60604 Document No.: 188-CR1-OP-BJTC-2 Work Assignment No.: 48-5LL4 CAMP DRESSER & McKEE INC. 11 EMI M*nw StTMt, Suit* 1100 »n*ironmv>t*l tnginttn. icitnnstt, Chicago, Mlno* 80603 pltnntn. 4 mtntgtmint coniultinll January 3, 1986 Mr. Gregory Vanderlaan Regional Project Officer U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 230 South Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60604 Ms. Judith Beck Regional Superfund Community Relations Coordinator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 230 South Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60604 Subject: Final Community Relations Plan for Master Disposal Service Landfill Site Work Assignment No: 48-5LL4 EPA Contra^ No.: 68-01-6939 Document No.: 188-CR1-OP-BJTC-2 Dear Mr. Vanderlaan and Ms. Beck: Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. is pleased to submit this Final Community Relations Plan for the Master Disposal Service Landfill Site. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me. Very truly yours, CAMP DRESSER & McKEE INC. - V. -John W/. Jlawthorne, P.E. V/ce President REM II 'Region V Manager PERFORMANCE OF REMEDIAL RESPONSE ACTIVITIES AT UNCONTROLLED HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES (REM II) U.S. EPA CONTRACT NO. 68-01-6939 FINAL COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLAN FOR MASTER DISPOSAL SERVICE LANDFILL SITE BROOKFIELD. WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN REM II DOCUMENT NO.: 188-CR1-OP-BJTC-2 Prepared by: r-Cl't c... '- ^-:.'-vfl^ ^ ^ / Date: Jackie Dingfelder-y " REM II Community Relations Specialist /? ^ Approved By: •/2/ /UAA 4 /A/AAL/J^/L/AA^J^^- £m / Date: Marion Cox / / REM II NPMO Community ReVations Manager Approved By: ###9 '"- CitHp"***' Date: Larry Campbell REM II Site Manager Approved By: -/:- . -/-' '_.'t. !*--^ Date: Jonn W. flawthoriie, P.E. / / REM II Region V Manager FINAL COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLAN MASTER DISPOSAL SERVICE LANDFILL, BROOKFIELD, WAUKESA COUNTY, WISCONSIN This final community relations plan describes the community relations program to be implemented during the remedial investigation and feasibility study at the Master Disposal Service Landfill site, located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region V Office will have lead responsibility for technical and community relations work at the Master Disposal site. To be effective, however, the community relations program will require close coordination among Federal, State, and local officials. The community relations plan for the Master Disposal site consists of four major sections: • Site Background and History of Community Concerns; • Key Community Relations Issues and Objectives; • Recommended Community Relations Techniques; and • Schedule and Staffing Plan for Community Relations Activities. This plan is based on interviews with representatives from the Waukesha County Park and Planning Commission, the Brookfield City Engineer, the Brookfield City Mayor, the Brookfield Town Chairman, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), the site owners, and residents of Brookfield. The last section of this plan proposes a schedule of community relations activities at the Master Disposal site. These activities are scheduled to coincide with the technical milestones scheduled for the site. In addition, a contact list of key officials, media representatives, interest groups, and local citizens has been included as Appendix A. This appendix also identifies possible locations for information repositories and public meetings in the Brookfield area. Appendix B of this plan illustrates the process involved in an EPA Superfund cleanup. A. SITE BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF COMMUNITY CONCERNS Site Background Master Disposal Service Landfill occupies twenty-six acres of land within the Town of Brookfield, in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. The site is located approximately three-quarters of a mile west of the Brookfield city limits. The City of Brookfield (population 35,000) is a suburban residential community, located approximately twenty miles from Milwaukee and seven miles from Waukesha, the county seat. (See Exhibit 1 for a location map.) The site itself is actually located within the Town of Brookfield. The City of Brookfield and the Town of Brookfield are two politically separate entities with separate local governments. The City of Brookfield has a mayor/council form of government and the Town of Brookfield is governed by a Town Chairman and two Town Supervisors. -2- Exhibft 1 LOCATION MAP MASTERS DISPOSAL LANDFILL Waukesha County, Wisconsin -3- The Master Disposal Service Landfill site, situated on the marshy floodplain of the Fox River, is partially surrounded by man-made or natural ditches leading to the river. The site is bounded by Wisconsin Route 190 and marshland on the south. The Fox River lies about 300 feet to the west and privately owned marshland surrounds the site to the north and east. (See Exhibit 2 for a site map.) One-half mile southwest of the site lies the Capitol Drive Airport. The floodplain area surrounding the Master Disposal Service Landfill has been protected through zoning ordinances as conservation land; therefore, no residences are located directly near the site. The closest residential area lies three-quarters of a mile east of the site within the City of Brookfield. Landfilling operations at this site have created a raised plateau, confined on the perimeter by earthen berms, which are visible from Route 190. The site entrance is fenced off and clearly marked with a sign stating the site name and information regarding the landfill operation. The Master Disposal site has been owned and operated as a disposal facility from 1962 to the present; landfilling operations were, however, discontinued in 1982. In 1962, the Town of Brookfield granted a sanitary landfill permit to the original owner of the site, Thomas Finger. In 1966, the landfill was sold to the present owners, Gene Blackmer and John Nowacki, who established and began operation of the Master Disposal Service Corporation Landfill. Soon after they purchased the site, the new owners began accepting industrial wastes and openly burning wood and other materials. In 1967, the City of Brookfield became concerned when complaints were received from citizens regarding smoke and odors caused by open burning at the site. The Brookfield mayor responded to these complaints by sending a letter to the WDNR expressing the concerns of the Brookfield city residents. In response to the city's concerns, the State began periodic inspections of the Master Disposal Service Landfill site. In 1968, the State informed the site owners that they had violated their permit by allowing oil and debris to enter the Fox River via drainage ditches; however, no formal action was taken to enforce compliance at that time. In 1970, the owners of the Master Disposal Service Landfill applied to WDNR for a solid waste disposal license and to the Town of Brookfield for renewal of the original sanitary landfill permit issued by the Town of Brookfield. At that time, the City of Brookfield and the Waukesha County Park and Planning Commission raised serious objections to the re-permitting of the site. The city and county claimed that the original permit should never have been issued and that the landfilling operations directly conflicted with the current floodplain zoning regulations. The county urged the State to delay issuance of a State license until the planning commission could conduct a study assessing the effects of the landfill on the water quality of the Fox River. Despite the objections raised by the City of Brookfield and the county, the Town of Brookfield renewed the sanitary landfill permit for Master Disposal. From 1970 to 1977, WDNR continued to perform site inspections through which the department detected and recorded many violations (e.g., acceptance and disposal of industrial wastes, continued open burning, inadequate cover material, no fencing). Ground-water sampling by WDNR in 1977 -4- Exhibit 2 SITE MAP MASTERS DISPOSAL LANDFILL TOWN OF BROOKFIELD ' ''CITY O"1 ' pROOKFIELDt MASTERS DISPOSAL - •> Oralnagi Ditch? Not*: This m«p Is not drawn to seal* Landfill W7^ Park £1113 City Limits NOKTH == Roadway -5- revealed high levels of chromium, phenol, and other organics. In 1974, the State brought suit against the Master Disposal Corporation in an effort to close the landfill. The State claimed that the firm had been operating without a State license and burying hazardous wastes in violation of State pollution laws. After a series of delays, an out-of-court agreement was finally reached in 1977. WDNR and the State Department of Justice (Attorney General's Office) entered into an agreement with Master Disposal, Inc. that allowed for a State license to be issued. In return, the site owners agreed to abandon the site within two and a half years and to establish a ground-water monitoring program at the site. In 1980, WDNR extended the closure/final abandonment date for Master Disposal Service Landfill, which was subsequently re-extended on two occasions. In January of 1982, the site finally stopped accepting waste, except wood waste to be burned in a controlled air-pit burner, known as an air curtain destructor. The ash from this burner was disposed on the site. While the air curtain destructor is not currently operable, open burning continues. The site was listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in August 1983. The State is currently overseeing the final closure of the site (which is expected to be completed by the site owners sometime in 1986) and is maintaining a limited ground-water monitoring program at the site. EPA expects to initiate the RI/FS during January 1986. History of Community Concern Community concern regarding the Master Disposal Service Landfill was greatest during full operation of the site.