County Says Landfill Poses Low Risk after 20 Years of Monitoring

by Trinity Gruenberg

trinity@inhnews.com

The Wadena County Commissioners held their regular meeting on Tuesday, August 4.

Groundwater Monitoring at Wadena County Landfill

Alex Puetz from Barr Engineering presented to commissioners information about groundwater monitoring at the Wadena County demolition landfill where he has worked for about six years.

Groundwater is essential for drinking water and flows underground from areas of higher elevation to lower elevation. Because of its importance, groundwater at landfills must be monitored to ensure it’s not causing contamination.

The Wadena County demolition landfill follows Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) regulations, which require monitoring wells to be installed both upstream (background checks) and downstream (post-landfill checks) to assess any changes in water quality.

Historically, the landfill area has been used for waste disposal since the 1950s. Past unregulated dump sites were consolidated into a single capped area that still undergoes MPCA monitoring. This history impacts current groundwater conditions.

Key findings at the landfill include elevated levels of nitrate, arsenic, manganese, and boron in some wells. It’s important to understand the context of these results:

Elevated nitrate levels are common in farming areas and often tied to agricultural activities, not landfill operations...

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