Building on Former Dump Sites, and Other West Waterfront Development Updates

The Door County Granary foundation is being constructed on the west waterfront. Photo by Chad Greuel.

Of the three projects planned for the West Waterfront – the Door County Granary, the Plaza/Terrace project and the 53-unit Breakwater Residences apartment building – the Granary is under construction; the Plaza/Terrace project must receive a historic fill exemption from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; and Northpoint’s apartment complex is on hold because of construction costs.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) granted the Granary project a historic fill exemption in January that required some methane piping before construction was allowed to begin. Now One Barrel owners Jennifer and Peter Gentry, developers of the Plaza/Terrace project, have hired an engineering firm to prepare its request to the DNR. 

Landfills that were established before 1970 and never licensed by the DNR are called “historic fill sites,” and the DNR’s administrative codes prohibit developments on buried-waste sites unless the DNR grants an exemption. The exemptions are granted if the DNR finds that the site does not pose a threat or if engineering controls can be implemented to prevent harm to the public and the environment. 

The potential problems, according to the DNR, include the accumulation of gases that can become explosive or cause health-related concerns, such as methane, human-made organic compounds and hydrogen sulfide. Other concerns include disturbance of the soil cap, which can cause groundwater contamination and settlement problems.