Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Natural Resources
NR 500-599 - Environmental Protection - Solid Waste Management
Chapter NR 507 - Environmental Monitoring For Landfills
Section NR 507.15 - General requirements for environmental monitoring

Universal Citation: WI Admin Code ยง NR 507.15

Current through August 26, 2024

(1) ALL FACILITIES. The department may require the owner or operator of any landfill, or any person who permits the use of property for that purpose, to conduct environmental monitoring in accordance with this chapter and with plans approved by the department. Environmental monitoring includes but is not limited to monitoring of groundwater, the unsaturated zone, leachate, lysimeter fluid, gas, gas condensate, surface water, public or private water supplies, air or other physical features. Monitoring procedures and results shall be documented and submitted to the department in accordance with ss. NR 507.14 and 507.26.

(2) FACILITIES IN OPERATION ON OR AFTER OCTOBER 9, 1993. The owner or operator of a landfill which accepted municipal solid waste on or after October 9, 1993, except facilities which received less than 100 tons per day on an annual basis and which ceased accepting solid waste prior to April 9, 1994, shall perform all of the following:

(a) Propose in the feasibility report for any new facility or expansion of an existing facility, a minimum of 4 groundwater monitoring wells to serve as Subtitle D wells. The department shall review the proposal and approve the proposed wells or choose alternative wells.

(b) Propose to the department a detection monitoring program, including baseline groundwater quality, leachate and lysimeter monitoring and Subtitle D well locations, in accordance with s. NR 507.19 in a feasibility report or for existing facilities according to the following schedule:
1. For facilities licensed to receive greater than 500,000 cubic yards, the owner or operator shall submit the proposal for implementation within 60 days after July 1, 1996.

2. For facilities licensed to receive less than 500,000 cubic yards, the owner or operator shall submit the proposal for implementation by October 9, 1996.

(c) Implement a detection monitoring program in accordance with plans approved by the department and including assessment monitoring if necessary.

(d) Propose to the department a quarterly gas monitoring program in accordance with s. NR 507.22 for implementation within 60 days after July 1, 1996 at existing facilities or in a feasibility report.

(e) Implement a quarterly gas monitoring program in accordance with plans approved by the department.

(3) CCR LANDFILLS. In addition to the detection groundwater monitoring system required under s. NR 507.19, the owner or operator of a CCR landfill that accepts CCR on or after October 19, 2015, shall also submit a plan establishing a separate CCR groundwater monitoring system for the purpose of monitoring groundwater quality in the uppermost aquifer in accordance with this chapter. The plan shall be submitted with the plan of operation modification for initial permitting in accordance with s. NR 514.045 or in the feasibility report under ch. NR 512.

(a) The CCR groundwater monitoring system shall consist of a sufficient number of CCR wells, installed at appropriate locations and depths, as approved by the department, adequate to yield groundwater samples from the uppermost aquifer that accurately represent upgradient groundwater quality that has not been affected by leakage from a CCR landfill and downgradient groundwater quality passing the waste boundary of the CCR landfill. The downgradient monitoring wells shall be installed to ensure detection of groundwater contamination in the uppermost aquifer, including all known or suspected contaminant pathways.

(b) The number, spacing, and depths of monitoring wells submitted to the department as part of the CCR groundwater monitoring system plan shall be determined based upon site-specific technical information that shall include thorough characterization of aquifer thickness, groundwater flow rate, and groundwater flow direction, including seasonal and temporal fluctuations in groundwater flow. The monitoring systems shall also take into account the saturated and unsaturated geologic units and fill materials overlying the uppermost aquifer, materials comprising the uppermost aquifer, and materials comprising the confining unit defining the lower boundary of the uppermost aquifer, including thicknesses, stratigraphy, lithology, hydraulic conductivities, porosities, and effective porosities.

(c) The CCR groundwater monitoring system plan shall include the minimum number of monitoring wells necessary to meet the performance standards specified under par. (a), based on the site-specific information specified under par. (b). The groundwater monitoring system plan shall contain all of the following:
1. A minimum of one upgradient and 3 downgradient monitoring wells to be designated as CCR wells.

2. Additional monitoring wells as necessary to accurately represent the background groundwater quality in the uppermost aquifer that has not been affected by leakage from the CCR landfill and the quality of groundwater passing the waste boundary of the CCR landfill.

(d) Monitoring wells shall be designed and installed in accordance with s. NR 507.06 and regularly inspected in accordance with s. NR 507.13. All monitoring wells, piezometers, and other measuring, sampling, and analytical devices shall be operated and maintained so that the devices perform to the design specifications throughout the life of the monitoring program.

(e) The documentation of the design, installation, development, and decommissioning of any monitoring wells, piezometers, and other measurement, sampling, and analytical devices shall be performed in accordance with s. NR 507.14 and applicable requirements under ch. NR 141. This includes submission of all required forms to the department in the timeframes specified.

(f) A sampling plan that includes the CCR groundwater monitoring system shall be submitted to the department in accordance with s. NR 507.16 and the requirements under s. NR 140.16. The sampling plan shall include consistent sampling and analysis procedures that are designed to ensure the production of monitoring results that provide an accurate representation of groundwater quality in the uppermost aquifer at the upgradient and downgradient CCR wells and that provide a characterization of leachate quality generated by the CCR landfill. The sampling plan shall be implemented as approved in writing by the department.

(g) The sampling plan shall include sampling and analytical methods that are appropriate for groundwater sampling and that accurately measure all required monitoring parameters under ch. NR 507, Appendix I in groundwater samples. The CCR landfill owner or operator shall obtain and analyze samples in accordance with the approved sampling plan under par. (f) and the requirements under s. NR 507.17.

(h) In addition to the field measurements required under s. NR 507.17 (1), the groundwater elevations shall be measured in each CCR well immediately prior to purging, each time groundwater is sampled. The owner or operator of the CCR landfill shall determine the rate and direction of groundwater flow each time groundwater is sampled and report the result to the department in accordance with s. NR 507.26. Groundwater elevations in wells that monitor the same CCR landfill shall be measured within a timeframe short enough to avoid temporal variations in groundwater flow that could preclude accurate determination of groundwater flow rate and direction.

(i) The owner or operator of the CCR landfill shall establish baseline groundwater quality in accordance with s. NR 507.18 for each CCR well and for each of the constituents required under ch. NR 507 Appendix I, Table 1A and in accordance with the approved sampling plan.

(j) The owner or operator of the CCR landfill shall measure total recoverable metals concentrations when measuring groundwater quality for each CCR well. Measurement of total recoverable metals includes both the particulate fraction and dissolved fraction of metals in natural waters. To ensure this, groundwater samples from CCR wells may not be field filtered prior to analysis.

(k) The owner or operator of the CCR landfill shall notify the department in writing within 60 days of completing sampling and analysis at any CCR well when a groundwater standard at the point of standards application has been attained or exceeded in accordance with s. NR 507.30.

(L) The owner or operator of a CCR landfill shall conduct detection groundwater monitoring at all CCR wells consistent with the requirements of this section and s. NR 507.19. Detection groundwater monitoring shall include groundwater monitoring for all constituents appropriate for CCR wells as listed under ch. NR 507 Appendix I, Table 1A and additional parameters if approved by the department in writing and in accordance with all of the following:
1. The minimum monitoring frequency for the constituents approved by the department as part of the detection groundwater monitoring shall be semi-annual during the active life of the CCR landfill and the post-closure period. For existing and new CCR landfills and all lateral expansions of CCR landfills, baseline groundwater quality shall be established at each CCR monitoring well in accordance with s. NR 507.18. This includes the collection of a minimum of 8 independent groundwater quality samples for each CCR well, each of which shall be analyzed for all constituents appropriate for CCR landfills as listed under ch. NR 507 Appendix I, Tables 1A and 3 and any additional parameters approved by the department in writing.

2. The number and methodology of groundwater quality samples collected and analyzed for each CCR well during subsequent semiannual sampling events shall be consistent with the approved sampling plan under s. NR 507.16, and shall account for any unique characteristics of the site. The CCR landfill owner or operator shall inform the department in accordance with s. NR 507.26 of any CCR well that purges dry, is damaged or obstructed, or in any way is rendered such that a sample was unable to be collected from the well during a scheduled sampling event and shall propose remedial actions to correct the problem prior to the next sampling event.

3. The owner or operator of the CCR landfill shall notify the department and respond in accordance with s. NR 507.30 when a groundwater standard at the point of standards application has been attained or exceeded at any CCR well. This response includes the establishment of an assessment monitoring program meeting the requirements under s. NR 508.06, unless the exceedance is determined by the department to be from a source other than the CCR landfill, or that the groundwater standard exceedance resulted from error in sampling, analysis, or natural variation in background groundwater quality in accordance with s. NR 508.06 (2) (f) 2.

4. For the purposes of determining the point of standards application for a groundwater quality exceedance at a CCR well, the horizontal distance for the design management zone under s. NR 140.22 (3) (a) for a CCR landfill is 0 feet from the waste boundary and may not be expanded by the department under s. NR 140.22(3) (b). The waste boundary shall include the horizontal space taken up by any liner, dike, or other barrier designed to contain CCR waste.

(m) The owner or operator of a CCR landfill shall prepare an annual groundwater monitoring and corrective action report for submittal to the department. The annual groundwater monitoring and corrective action report shall be placed in the written operating record and posted on a publicly accessible internet site under s. NR 506.17 (2) and (3) no later than January 31 of the year following the calendar year a groundwater monitoring system has been approved by the department, and annually thereafter. For the preceding calendar year, the annual report shall document the status of the groundwater monitoring and any corrective action implemented at the CCR landfill, summarize key actions completed, describe any problems encountered, discuss actions to resolve the problems, and project key activities for the upcoming year. At a minimum, the annual groundwater monitoring and corrective action report shall contain all of the following information, to the extent available:
1. A map, aerial image, or diagram showing the CCR landfill and all upgradient and downgradient monitoring wells, including the well identification numbers, that are part of the groundwater monitoring for the CCR landfill.

2. Identification of any monitoring wells that were installed or decommissioned during the preceding year, along with a narrative description of why those actions were taken.

3. In addition to all the monitoring data obtained under par. (L), a summary including the number of groundwater samples that were collected for analysis for each upgradient and downgradient well, the dates the samples were collected, and whether the sample was required by detection monitoring or assessment monitoring.

4. A narrative discussion of any transition between monitoring including the date and circumstances for transitioning from detection monitoring to assessment monitoring in addition to identifying any constituents detected above ch. NR 140 standards.

5. A section at the beginning of the annual report that provides an overview of the current status of groundwater monitoring and corrective action for the CCR landfill. At a minimum, the summary shall include all of the following:
a. At the start of the current annual reporting period, whether the CCR landfill was operating under detection monitoring or assessment monitoring.

b. At the end of the current annual reporting period, whether the CCR landfill was operating under detection monitoring or assessment monitoring.

c. If it was determined by the owner or operator that there was a groundwater quality exceedance under ch. NR 140 for one or more constituents listed under ch. NR 507 Appendix I for CCR wells, a listing of those constituents, the names of the monitoring wells associated with the exceedances, and the date when the assessment monitoring was initiated for the CCR landfill.

d. If corrective action measures were required, the date when the assessment of corrective measures was initiated for the CCR landfill, the date when the public informational hearing under s. NR 508.06 (3) (e) was held for the discussion of the results of the remedial action options report, and the date when the assessment of corrective measures was completed.

e. If a remedy was required under ch. NR 508 during the annual reporting period, the date of remedy selection, and whether remedial activities were initiated or are ongoing during the annual reporting period.

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