Community members share concerns about possible water pollutants - WEAU

Community members share concerns about possible water pollutants

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) - A group of community members are voicing their concerns after a man was charged with dumping a pollutant called leachate into water.

Jeff Goettl has lived on Lake Altoona for nine years. He, like other community members in the area, is concerned about the health of the lake.

On Wednesday, dozens of community met in the Eau Claire County Courthouse as Daniel Burns made his initial appearance. Burns is charged with four counts of discharging a pollutant into waters of the state. The criminal complaint accuses Burns of improperly disposing of leachate, saying it ended up in Sixmile Creek.

“So, any water that comes in contact with waste, that could be rainwater, surface water or any liquids inside of a landfill that come out or is out of the landfill is called leachate,” Natasha Gwidt with the Wisconsin DNR said.

According to the criminal complaint, Burns was operating a private landfill off Highway 12 in Altoona. At this landfill, Burns was expected to properly dispose of leachate. It says in 2020, the DNR noticed inconsistencies in Burn’s disposal documentation, leading them to visit the site. At the site, they estimate 2.5 million gallons of leachate were unaccounted for.

According to the DNR, wardens witnessed Burns pumping leachate down a hill that eventually ended up in Sixmile Creek. Water from Sixmile Creek eventually drains into Lake Altoona where many of the community members who attended court live. They shared their concerns about the possible pollutant.

“Many of those homeowners live in the townships around that lake and have their own water wells,” Michele Skinner, Chair of the Lake Altoona District Board, said. “We’re not on city water and sewer so if that stuff got into the groundwater, we are all potentially at risk.”

Downstream from the creek, Gwidt said some private wells were tested for contaminants.

“The DNR did go and do independent sampling event to make sure that those private wells were still safe for those individuals, for their drinking water,” Gwidt said. “We have not seen any other impacts for the environment health at this point, but we are still watching.”

Gwidt said if there is a known impact to human health, they would make a notice to those individuals.

Burns pleaded not guilty on all four counts. His next court appearance will be a motion hearing on August 29.

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