Oakdale Dump covers three former dump properties in Oakdale, Minnesota: the 55-acre Abresch site, the 5-acre Brockman site, and the 2-acre Eberle site. Industrial and non-industrial waste was dumped at all three locations during the late 1940s and 1950s. A Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) investigation in 1980 found soil contamination, and the U.S. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1983. The NPL is the federal list of hazardous waste sites that qualify for long-term cleanup funding and oversight.
Two contaminants of concern have been identified in groundwater across the whole site: benzene and 2-propan-2-yloxypropane. Both pose unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. EPA assessed which people and ecological resources could be exposed, measured the amounts present, and evaluated potential health effects before deciding what needed to be cleaned up.
Cleanup work has been substantial. Crews removed hazardous waste containers, excavated and treated contaminated soils, and disposed of about 11,500 cubic yards of waste material in 1982. That material included 4,200 empty drums, 8,700 empty 5-gallon pails, 4,660 cubic yards of contaminated soil, and 15 intact overpacked containers. Roughly 173,000 gallons of contaminated water received off-site treatment. Contaminated multi-aquifer wells were abandoned by 1984, and a groundwater extraction system became operational in 1985 with updates completed in 2003. Physical construction of the cleanup is now finished across the entire site. The State of Minnesota leads the cleanup, with EPA serving in a support role.
Human exposure is currently under control, meaning assessments show no unacceptable exposure pathways at the site. Groundwater migration has also been stabilized, with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Monitoring continues to confirm contaminated groundwater stays in its original area. The MPCA has completed five-year reviews, with the most recent finished in September 2024, confirming that cleanup actions remain protective of human health and the environment in the short term. Continued protectiveness depends on maintaining institutional controls. The site has not yet been deleted from the NPL.
Parts of the site have already been put back to use. The Eberle property, which did not require cleanup, is now a city park. The Brockman property contains commercial use and a wooded vacant lot. Community members with questions about the site can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator, Cheryl Allen, or Remedial Project Manager, Andrew Kleist.
