Help for BRRTS on the Web (BOTW)

General information

General information

Enter or select one or more search criteria and press the enter key or click on the search button. Clicking the reset button removes all values from the search form and resets each field to defaults. After submitting your search, you will see a list of activities matching your criteria. The number of activities found and the number of pages produced are shown at the top of each results page.

Capitalization

BOTW searches are not case-sensitive. All characters, no matter how they are entered, will be converted to the correct case matching the database values.

Automatic 'AND' queries

By default, the BOTW search engine only returns activities that match all of your search values. "And" is used by default to join each separate search criteria. Unlike some web search engines, separate values entered into the same field will not be independently searched. For example, entering "ACME PIPELINE" in the activity name field does not search for "ACME" separate from "PIPELINE." To restrict a search further, just include or select additional values.

Searching with 'wildcards'

The BOTW search engine will determine how each search term should be searched for optimum results. It is not necessary to enter wildcards such as "*" or "%" to force a search with "begins with" or "contains." In fact, entering these symbols will interfere with the results. On the search results page header, you will see "You searched on:" followed by the details of your search. This will indicate how each of your criteria values were searched.

Consolidated activity search logic

If you search a 10-digit BRRTS activity number and the activity you are searching for has been removed from the BRRTS database because the tracking has been consolidated with another activity, your search result will indicate the change and return the activity under which that tracking is currently being performed.

Activity number change search logic

If you search a 10-digit BRRTS activity number and the number has been modified (usually caused by a change in the county location or the activity type), search logic will return the activity represented by the new activity number.

Navigation

When moving between pages, always use the "Navigation:" links found at the top of each page. This will ensure your previous criteria will be retained when you return to perform another search and you will avoid “form resubmission” browser errors.

Incomplete data and search accuracy

Search results may not represent a complete list of all activities and locations containing environmental contamination in the state of Wisconsin. This most often occurs because the criteria used in your search may not exist across all BRRTS database records. In addition, there are some locations for which the DNR has limited information but not a confirmation of discharge to the environment. These potentially contaminated sites do not appear in BOTW until contamination has been confirmed. The DNR may be unaware of contamination at some properties.

Mouse-over help

Throughout BOTW you will see underlined text and information icons. Place your mouse pointer over these icons to view more information about the item or section.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations used in BOTW

Search tips and tricks

Search tips and tricks

The basic search in BOTW provides a simple way to locate activities using the most common search values. If you have additional questions, please contact Danielle Wincentsen.

Activity or location name
Searches both the name of the Activity and the Location/Facility as “contains within.” The Activity Name is often, but not always, the same as the Location/Facility name. The Activity name may be more specific to the location of a discharge (e.g., spill at intersection of 1st and 2nd Ave).

Address
When a value is entered into this field, the search will look for matching location addresses that CONTAIN the entered criteria. For example, entering "First Ave" will return addresses such as "123 FIRST AVE" or "89 FIRST AVENUE" or entering "800" would return addresses like "8000 STH 178TH," "1800 HARRISON ST," etc. It is a good idea to use less specific address criteria in this field. This way you will not miss finding addresses with spelling differences or that use abbreviations.

DNR region
Select a DNR Region from the drop-down list to limit the search by region. Click on the "region" link next to the criteria field for maps and more information.

Municipality
Name of the city, township, village or unincorporated name where the activity is physically located. This may differ from the municipality used for the mailing address. In the BRRTS database, municipalities are not input using a standard list and therefore abbreviations and order may vary (e.g., "St. Favre, TN," "TN of Saint Favre"). Search criteria should be entered with this in mind. Attempt additional searches if initial searches don't find desired results. Municipality names should contain the suffix "TN" for townships and "VIL" for villages. When searching by municipality, a BEGINS WITH search is automatically performed. For example, searching with "GR'"in the municipality field will return activities located in Green Bay, Grand Marsh, etc.

County list
Select a Wisconsin county from the drop-down list to limit the search by county.

Activity status
Status indicates the current "state" of an activity's cleanup process and is classified as follows. Do not include the status to limit your search if you are unsure of the status of activities you are searching for. For more information on activity types and how status would apply, please refer to the BOTW Glossary.

• Open - Indicates the activity is still in need of cleanup or the cleanup is underway.
• Closed - Indicates an activity has completed all cleanup requirements and has received a case closure letter from the DNR.
• Historic spills - Spills that occurred between 1978 and 1996 prior to the existence of a formal closure process for spill activities.

Activity type list
Select the RR activity type (program) to limit your search. Click the "activity type" link next to this list for more information. For more information on activity types please refer to the BOTW Glossary.

Jurisdiction list
Indicates the agency, or bureau within the agency, which holds jurisdiction for cleanup actions at an activity.

BRRTS number field
If you know the 10-digit BRRTS tracking number (e.g., from DNR correspondence), you may search for a specific site by entering the number, with or without dashes, in this field. The first two digits of the activity number indicate the "type" or "program" of the activity (e.g., "02" = ERP, "03" = LUST, "04" = SPILL, etc.). The next two digits indicate the county code. The BOTW search engine search for activity numbers using "CONTAINS." A quick way to find ERP activities in Milwaukee County would be to enter "0241" in this field.

Facility ID
Not all locations in BRRTS contain a facility ID (FID) number. Other DNR programs also use FID numbers. Searching by FID is useful when focused on the physical location where more than one activity may be present.

PECFA number
The acronym PECFA stands for Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Award. PECFA is a reimbursement program for eligible response action costs associated with petroleum site cleanup. A PECFA number is assigned to activities that have applied for this program. After June 2020, PECFA was no longer available in Wisconsin.

Region list
Select a DNR region from the drop-down list to limit the search by region. Region is a DNR-specific area assignment used to manage staff and workload in the program. It is not necessary to include region in your search if your search includes a county name or other criteria.

County list
Select a Wisconsin county from the drop-down list to limit the search by county. If you include region and county, region will be removed from your search.

Characteristics checkboxes
These characteristics may be considered activity "sub-types" representing various "flags" in the BRRTS database. As an example, "dry cleaner" is a special type of ERP activity. To find all activities in BRRTS defined as dry cleaners, choose this from the characteristics list. For more information on a specific characteristic, please refer to the BOTW Glossary.

Substance list
Search for activities where a specific substance is listed as a contaminant.

Financial list
Many BRRTS activities contain financial assistance via grants, loans or other reimbursements. Or state funds were used to hire an environmental consultant(s) for investigation and cleanup where no responsible party has been identified or the responsible party is unwilling or unable to provide financial support at the site. This search feature does not include sites utilizing PECFA funding for cleanup.

Start date
Locate activities where the start date was equal to, before or after a specific date, entered in MM/DD/YYYY format.

End date
Locate activities where the end date was equal to, before or after a specific date, entered in MM/DD/YYYY format.

DNR Project Manager list
Select the name of the DNR Project Manager of the activity, if known. This search only returns activities that are open.

Search results

Search results

Downloading results

Records returned as a result of your search may be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet (.xls format). Click the "DOWNLOAD" link at the top of the results page. The spreadsheet will contain the date and time of the download, the search criteria used and limited data fields (not all activity details).

Sort results

By default, results are grouped by location but you can choose from a list of other sort options (county, activity name, BRRTS No, etc). Results are indicated by alternating light grey or white background within the list.

Paging

If your search returned more than 30 records, they will be listed on multiple pages. To navigate between pages, use the next page, first page, previous page and last page links.