By Cara Spoto • Central Wisconsin Sunday • It might be trashy, but in Wisconsin, homeowners can get rid of their household waste not just by putting it on the curb or dropping it at the landfill, but by burying it in their backyards. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has strict guidelines for the disposal of most solid waste, but under current law, it has no jurisdiction over household waste, which can include everything from leftovers and dirty diapers to batteries and toxic chemicals. As long as the waste is on a person's residential property, there isn't much the DNR can do. But that soon could change. State Rep. Louis Molepske Jr., D-Stevens Point, has introduced legislation that would remove the exemption keeping the DNR from regulating household waste. The bill will have a hearing before the Assembly's Natural Resources Committee next week. If it becomes law, it would essentially ban the burying of household waste, protecting groundwater supplies and property rights, Molepske said. "It doesn't make any sense, especially with today's toxic waste stream, to allow individuals not to have to use approved government landfills," Molepske said. Ann Coakley, director for the Bureau of Waste and Materials Management, said the DNR supports the bill. "The exemption is outdated," Coakley said. "We know now that waste should be managed by reusing, recycling or properly disposing of it." Marathon County Solid Waste Administrator Meleesa Johnson said burying household waste has long been a problem in rural areas statewide. Johnson was part of a 2003 DNR stakeholder study on open burning and backyard dumping, which recommended allowing the DNR to regulate household waste. When she was solid waste administrator for Portage County, she remembers fielding plenty of calls from residents about backyard dumping. "It's a dirty little secret in a lot of ways," Johnson said. "If you buy an old farmhouse, you can dig anywhere on the property and find old garbage, because that's the way it was. This is sort of a remnant of that era, but people still do it." In addition to hurting property, burying trash can be exceptionally harmful to groundwater, especially in areas such as central Wisconsin, where sandy soils allow greater seepage and water can be just 10 feet from the surface. "I live in the town of Hull. Let's say my neighbor decided to bury his leftover pesticides that he used on his yard, and some oil filters. Literally, there is nothing stopping that from getting into the groundwater," Johnson said. Backyard dumping also has been an issue in Wood County. Wood County Planner Jason Grueneberg said that he has investigated his fair share of complaints. "We had a particular incident where one property owner was dumping garbage on their property line just to make the neighbor angry," Grueneberg said. "The DNR said if there is any groundwater contamination that was occurring as the result of the dumping, they could step in and do something. But really, in most rural parts of the county, there are no local restrictions.
