LaGrand Sanitary Landfill

Overview

LaGrand Sanitary Landfill is a five-acre closed municipal solid waste site in LaGrand Township, west-central Douglas County, Minnesota. It accepted mixed municipal solid waste from 1974 to 1985. After closure, it was listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) on July 22, 1987, placing it under federal Superfund oversight. The site was deleted from the NPL on October 23, 1997, after cleanup met its objectives. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) took ownership in 1998 and continues to oversee the site under its Closed Landfill Program.

EPA identified ten contaminants of concern at the site, found in groundwater and solid waste. These include arsenic, manganese, and three phthalates: bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate, and di-n-octyl phthalate. EPA selected these for cleanup because they posed an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. Risks at the site stem from direct contact with landfill wastes and from ingestion of contaminated groundwater.

The cleanup plan was selected in September 1992 and put in place in 1993. Work included covering exposed wastes, installing groundwater and landfill gas monitoring points, and restricting future land use. Construction was fully complete by August 1995. The landfill cap was upgraded in 2006 with new gas vents. State operation and maintenance activities have been ongoing since September 1994. Current monitoring covers the landfill cover, the gas control system, and ten groundwater wells. Gas sampling shows methane at very low levels in only one probe outside the waste area. Groundwater sampling has found no contaminants above state or federal drinking water standards. Human exposure is currently under control across the entire site, and contaminated groundwater migration has been stabilized.

EPA completed its most recent five-year review in August 2023. That review found the remedy continues to protect human health and the environment in the short term. It recommended that MPCA perform long-term stewardship procedures and document findings in annual institutional control reports. The next five-year review is estimated to occur between August and October 2028. The site achieved sitewide ready for anticipated reuse status in June 2012. Since then, 2.76 acres were transferred to Runestone Electric for an electric substation in 2008, and an easement was granted to Great River Energy for a transmission line in 2009.

Community members with questions can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager. Questions can also be directed to the MPCA. Site records are available at the MPCA office at 520 Lafayette Road North in St. Paul, Minnesota.