Cedarburg man charged with polluting creek in Eau Claire County that feeds into Lake Altoona
A Cedarburg man has been charged with allowing the liquid waste byproduct of a former landfill to enter a small creek near Eau Claire, potentially putting the health of other nearby water bodies at risk.
Daniel Burns, who owns the former Plainwell Tissue Landfill site in Eau Claire, was charged in June with four misdemeanor counts of discharging into waters of the state, linked to four separate occurrences in June and July of 2020.
The landfill Burns owns there was previously used by Plainwell Tissue Co. for the disposal of paper mill sludge and ash, according to the complaint. It was closed in 2007.
Burns' company, Drake Consulting Group, also owns two other properties: the former Amcast NPL site in Cedarburg and the Appleton Coated Landfill in Combined Locks, according to the company's website. Burns also owns and operates Riley Fiontar, which is the business that owns the Plainwell Tissue landfill.
Burns' attorney declined to comment on the case.
According to the complaint:
During those months, investigative wardens allegedly saw Burns on four occasions allow leachate — which is contaminated liquid generated by a landfill when liquids like rainwater percolate through waste and accumulate contaminants — flow out from the leachate collection system and onto nearby land.
He was observed using a gasoline-powered pump to force leachate out of the capture system and down the hill, which leads directly to Sixmile Creek. Wardens observed that the ground was saturated with liquid after Burns finished, and there was pooled "foul-smelling" liquid in several areas. The wardens collected samples from the puddles, which tested positive for cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, mercury and iron.
Samples were also collected three other times, with some collected from Sixmile Creek itself.
Burns did not have a wastewater discharge permit from the Department of Natural Resources, meaning he could not legally send waste into the nearby creek.
The complaint says that Burns had knowledge of what he was doing.
"The Defendant's actions were willful and intentional because Burns is an environmental consultant, is licensed by the DNR and has experience in proper storage, removal and treatment of landfill leachate.
The four counts Burns was charged with carry fines between $10 and $25,000 and/or up to six months in prison.
Burns in late July pleaded not guilty. The case is scheduled for a motion hearing later this month.
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Concerns extend to Lake Altoona
While the pollution caused by Burns directly filtered into Sixmile Creek, that creek inevitably connects to Altoona Lake, which in recent years has undergone years of cleanup efforts, said Michele Skinner, the chair of the Lake Altoona District Board.
"We've been working so hard to clean up our water, we've been bringing in grants, working with new technology to stop sedimentation and working on new projects," she said. "We're not just sitting there, letting the lake go to ruin. So for this to happen, it's like we got sucker punched."
While the lake is regarded as a good place for fishing for walleye, there have been problems with contaminants that lead to the public beach on the lake being closed for two out of three months last summer. While Skinner said she's not sure if the contaminants found in the leachate are what caused those beach closures, they certainly can't have helped the lake.
Skinner said when Burns appeared in court last month, she and several other residents of the Lake Altoona area packed the courtroom in a demonstration that environmental pollution should never be OK.
"He picked the wrong lake," she said.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cedarburg man charged in Eau Claire County for polluting creek
