Environmental Protection

Beach Safety Tips

Wisconsin's beaches are a great place to swim, build sand castles or watch the sun set over the water. Beachgoers will find 57 miles of public beaches on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior alone, and plenty of places to dip their toes in on…

Maps of Great Lakes Beaches

Wisconsin's Beach List

In anticipation of the beach season each year, the DNR's beach program reaches out to local beach managers and public health departments along Wisconsin's Great Lakes coasts to determine what changes, if any, are needed to Wisconsin's beach list and…

Landfill organic stability

The DNR, in consultation with external partners, is exploring ways to reduce the long-term risk of landfilling by reducing the time it takes for the waste in municipal solid waste landfills to become stable — that is, to reach the point when…

Landfill siting FAQ

What are the steps in siting a landfill? A landfill siting project starts when a person, company or municipality determines that a landfill is needed within a certain area in order to serve the waste disposal needs of that area. At that point,…

Wisconsin's landfill siting process

In Wisconsin, all new landfills and expansions to existing landfills must get both state and local approvals before construction. Licensing of a landfill and negotiation/arbitration of local approvals are two separate processes that happen at the…

Historic and current waste disposal sites

Historic and current waste disposal site information may be important to individuals considering land purchases, governments planning redevelopment, businesses planning expansion and well drillers planning well installation.List of current licensed…

Landfill operation FAQ

What protections exist for neighbors and the environment if a landfill is built and then starts to leak or cause other serious problems? Landfills operators are required by code to monitor groundwater, surface water and, where appropriate, air…

Landfill environmental monitoring FAQ

Where do I mail landfill environmental monitoring data for upload to GEMS? For United States Postal Service, mail to: GEMS Data Submittal Contact – WA/5 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources PO Box 7921 Madison, WI 53707-7921…

Collecting and analyzing Wisconsin landfill environmental monitoring data

The DNR's Waste and Materials Management Program has collected environmental monitoring data from licensed landfills since the mid-1970s. These data are captured in the Groundwater and Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) database. Program staff…