The Department of Natural Resources is issuing its first ever Certificate of Completion for the cleanup of a licensed municipal landfill, paving the way for a soccer complex near downtown Wausau. Community leaders ended up having to change state law to make it happen.
The Holtz-Krause landfill sits on sixty acres just south of downtown Wausau. The former eyesore and health hazard can now officially be converted into a soccer complex owned by Marathon County.
Bill Duncanson is the parks, recreation and forestry director. “[The complex] is going to contain 15 fields of various sizes,” he said, “from smaller ones for the kids up to full tournament size soccer fields that can accommodate rugby, lacrosse, field hockey.”
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The landfill not only had to be cleaned up, but state law had to be changed before the county was willing to take ownership. Dave Eisenreich chairs a steering committee which lobbied Democrats and Republicans to change the law, so new owners of licensed landfills would not be liable for old problems.
“In the past, essentially, landfills were expected to be closed, monitored forever, and nothing ever done with them,” Eisenreich said, “With the change in the law, a new owner would not be held liable for any kind of environmental issue.”
The final step comes this week when the DNR issues its Certification for Completion. DNR hydrologist Erin Endsley says it’s the first ever for a licensed municipal landfill.
“I think the real accomplishment at this site,” Endsley said, “is that you had a really good group of interested parties coming together to make this a win for the community, that allowed… this landfill to be used for a productive purpose that may not have otherwise happened.”
The soccer complex will sit next to Wausau’s recently completed world-class curling center.
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