Assessment of Wisconsin’s Groundwater Monitoring Plan Program for Active Non-Approved Landfills (1985- 1990)

Executive Summary: In 1984, the Wisconsin State legislature set up a system for implementing groundwater protection standards, which allowed the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to require solid waste facilities to install groundwater monitoring systems as a condition of their relicensure. This system was known as the Groundwater Monitoring Plan (GWM) program. From 1985-1990 district solid waste investigators chose 156 solid waste facilities that were most likely to be contaminating groundwater, based on a set of criteria.

By this process, the Department of Natural Resources was able to initiate groundwater monitoring at 123 sites. The majority of the chosen sites were medium-sized (50,000- 500,000 cubic yards) and at least 20 years old. Some districts chose more sites than others, but the sites were fairly well distributed throughout the State. By 1992, most of the sites were no longer accepting waste.