County Selling Former Allis-Chalmers Landfill

Site map for former Allis-Chalmers landfill. The Reese Group.

Milwaukee County plans to sell a former Allis-Chalmers landfill in Greenfield.

Since May, the county has been soliciting bids for acquisition and development of the 19.6 acre site at 11815 W. Morgan Ave. The site is bordered on the west by a subdivision and to the east by S. 116th St. and beyond that by the Root River.

The site was used as a sand and gravel mine until 1964. Following that, the industrial machinery manufacturer Allis-Chalmers used it as a dump site for foundry sand. The last load of foundry sand was dumped at the site in 1982, according to Department of Natural Resources (DNR) records. The site was purchased by Illinois based Cuywreco, Inc. in 1998 and a thin clay cap was built over the exposed dump site.

Within a few years, the site came into the county’s possession through property tax foreclosure. The county is trying to sell the property to a firm interested in developing it. In 2023, the county estimated it would cost approximately $1.2 million to properly cap the site and prepare it for development. Any future developer will need to work with the DNR to remediate environmental contamination at the site and secure permitting from the agency.

Foundry sand is used to create molds for metal castings. When it is spent it is considered a hazardous material. In 2002, engineers from GRAEF determined the there is 28.5 feet of foundry sand buried in some parts of the site, though in most areas there is approximately 15 feet.

In the past, testing of ground water samples at the site have detected several volatile organic compounds, which are common ground water contaminants that vaporize easily; heavy metals like lead and arsenic; and other materials.

The county is closing bidding on the land in October, and will evaluate proposals using a number of criteria, including how many jobs the project creates both during and after construction, as well as the potential addition to the tax base.

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Related Legislation: DNR records on the landfill