Public Health Madison & Dane County

The Case of the Telltale Concrete

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This is another installment in our series of blog posts about illegal dumping cases. Need a backgrounder on our illegal dumping program? We’ve got a blog post about that!

If you’re a fan of the detective genre, you can probably name a case or two solved with unique footprints. The staff on our Environmental Protection Unit put on their deerstalker hats and followed the “footprints” in this latest case.

Our team fielded a call from a concerned person who reported construction crews working along East Washington Avenue were pouring cement and rinsing their tools and concrete into the gutters. When someone dumps waste or other materials, they’re carried—untreated—into the nearest waterway when it rains. Concrete is especially problematic because it takes 10,000 gallons of rainwater to neutralize one gallon of concrete waste.

The person who called in the complaint said they had tried to talk to the construction workers and explain that washing concrete in the gutter is a violation of Madison laws. The foreperson argued that all crews do this. Yikes! The complainant shared photos with us which identified the exact location and revealed large amounts of concrete waste running down East Washington Avenue, directly into the storm sewer inlet. Additionally, the photos documented the concrete truck driver hosing down concrete waste directly to the street.

  • A worker empties concrete into the sewer

    A worker illegally empties concrete into the gutter.

  • Concrete pools in the gutter, headed for the sewer

    Concrete pools in the gutter and is headed for the sewer.

  • Concrete pours into the sewer

    Concrete runs into the sewer.

This is solid proof of wrongdoing, but our team needs to see evidence of concrete making its way to the sewer. They arrived on scene and saw the telltale signs of concrete staining. This “footprint” is very distinct and showed that an illegal release happened and made its way into the storm sewer.

Our team dispatched our partners in City Engineering to send over a vactor truck to clean the gutter and the storm sewer system before it rained.

But what about the company that did the damage? Our team was able to reach the general contractor of the site, who we hold responsible for any illegal releases. He was very upset with his crew and said he would pass along the $313 citation to his sub-contractor. He stated this is not a common practice among construction crews, and that this was an instance of a truck driver not following proper protocol.

Reporting Concerns or Possible Violations

You can report any possible violations in Dane County to us.

Anyone can report a concern or possible violation. We have the authority to address threats to surface water quality in Madison and Dane County. We’ll ask for some basic details about what happened, like a description of what you saw and when.

Reporting possible violations is easy, either by online form or by phone.

To report a concern in Dane County, fill out an online report or call (608) 266-4821.

In an investigative mood?

Check out our other blogs in this series:

This content is free for use with credit to Public Health Madison & Dane County .

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