NPL Site Narrative for Spickler Landfill

SPICKLER LANDFILL

Spencer, Wisconsin

Conditions at proposal (January 22, 1987): Spickler Landfill covered 80 acres in Spencer, a rural
agricultural region of Marathon County, Wisconsin. In July 1970, the privately owned landfill began
operations under the name Spickler Landfill, disposing of both municipal and industrial wastes. A second
owner operated the facility from April 1972 to November 1973, when it was sold to Mid-State Disposal,
Inc. In July 1975, Mid-State Disposal sold the site back to the original owner, who then sold the property in
February 1976 to still another person, who now operates the site as a tree nursery. The landfill was closed
in the fall of 1976. Mid-State Disposal was involved in the closure.

The landfill was operated in three phases. In the first two phases, municipal wastes and asbestos dust
were accepted. The landfill had no liner or leachate controls. When these phases ended, the area was
capped with native clay soils. In early 1971, with the approval of the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources, 1,281 cubic yards of mercury brine sludge from BASF Wyandotte Chemical Co.'s Nekoosa
Plant were deposited at the site in a clay-lined pit measuring 100 by 100 feet and 10 feet deep. Later in
the year, it was capped with clay. During a June 1984 inspection, EPA saw that this pit had subsided, and
water had ponded on top. Leachate was seeping into a ditch adjacent to the site, thus threatening local
surface water.

In late 1984, EPA installed monitoring wells around the site. In March 1985, both the upper aquifer
and lower sandstone aquifer were found to be contaminated with a number of organic and inorganic
substances, including mercury, barium, toluene, and ethylbenzene, according to EPA analyses. Within 3
miles of the site, the sandstone aquifer provides drinking water to 2,000 people via private wells. The site
owner's well is on the site.

The site is not fenced, making it possible for people and animals to come into direct contact with hazardous
substances.

Status (July 22, 1987): EPA's preliminary plan for fiscal year 1987 includes a remedial investigation/
feasibility study to determine the type and extent of contamination at the site and identify alternatives for
remedial action.

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including
general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be
found on the Internet at ATSDR - ToxFAQs (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp) or by telephone
at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.

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