MEJO is reviewing more than a thousand pages of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources documents on Madison Kipp Corp and the adjacent Goodman Community Center (which is built on a contaminated industrial site formerly occupied by Durline Scales and Kupfer Ironworks).
DNR has been aware of numerous pollution issues for decades and the level of non-action is staggering. While Madison Kipp should be held fully accountable for its actions, DNR documents paint a picture of long-term institutional “turning a blind eye” to problems that neighbors have been seeking to resolve for decades.
Below are two examples of information culled from DNR documents relevant to current developments.
PCBS AT KIPP – When did the DNR know?
The Wisconsin Department of Justice filed suit against Madison-Kipp Corp. on Sept. 28, 2012. Item # 10 of the complaint reads:
“10. On March 26, 2006, Madison-Kipp was advised by its consultant that spent oil containing PCBs had been spread at the facility as a dust suppressant. This information was not shared with the DNR until April, 2012.” [Emphasis added]
MEJO found the March 16, 2006 consultant report from RSV Engineering, Inc. in DNR records. The report is signed by Robert Nauta, a hydrogeologist who has worked on Kipp environmental projects for several consulting firms over the years. Nauta’s cover letter of the report reads:
“PCB oils in asphalt sub-base: Although there have been no tests to demonstrate the actual presence of PCBs in the gravel base beneath the asphalt at the site, RSV understands that the presence of potentially PCB-containing oils for dust suppressions was practiced at the Subject Property prior to paving. However, as indicated above [reference to acknowledged PCE contamination and ongoing remediation], RSV understands that the chemical injection process being utilized for soil remediation is also capable of remediating impacts from PCB releases.”
So DNR received Kipp’s consultant’s report in 2006 and apparently no one read it! Is this an anomaly, an unfortunate situation where paperwork slipped between the cracks, and no one knew about Kipp’s PCB use? Well, you be the judge…
LATER IN THE SERIES:
DNR defends Kipp when environmentalists draw attention to PCB problems at Kipp—“Kipp was being a good corporate citizen.”
