Juneau County receives Brownfield Grant from DNR to support contamination assessment

JUNEAU COUNTY, Wis. (WKBT) -- Nearly one year after a fire burned through a Necedah junkyard, the DNR is finally moving forward with cleaning the site up.

The Wisconsin DNR is awarding brownfield assessment services to Juneau County.

"These assessment grants allow communities to take over properties that maybe nobody else wants to, access what the environmental conditions are on the property," says the Wisconsin DNR's Jodie Thistle.

Brownfield is a property where contamination makes it difficult to expand, redevelop or reuse a property. The property where the fire broke out became tax delinquent and the owner passed away in 2020.  Last April when the fire burned through the junkyard, it impacted the aquifer and contaminated water for residents.

The investigation starts with two phases. The first phase is when an environment contractor assesses on the property.

"They will go out and evaluate the conditions at the site. They will look at a lot of historical records like old area photographs and maps and do a complete evaluation of what might be out there," Thistle tells News 8 Now.

Phase two is when the consultant collects soil or ground water samples from the property to be tested in a lab. Juneau County also applied for a site assessment grant from the state economic development corporation to get rid of the waste material from the junk yard.

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