March 1, 2026
VIROQUA, Wis. – The Vernon County Landfill is technically out of room but local officials are exploring an option to dig up thousands of yards of dirt and divert local trash across county lines in a desperate bid to keep the facility open.
The scramble for space comes as the county waits on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to approve a proposed expansion that has been in the works for years.
The Expansion Proposal and Permitting History
In October 2023 the Vernon County Board of Supervisors voted to pursue a major expansion of the existing 9.5 acre facility. The proposal seeks to add over 427,000 cubic yards of space which equates to roughly 340,000 tons of new airspace to accommodate the region’s waste.
However the path to expansion has been bogged down in two parallel regulatory tracks. On the technical side the county must obtain a permit from the DNR. After submitting an initial feasibility report the county received notices of incompleteness from state regulators requesting more extensive data regarding the underlying karst geology.
Over the past year the county and its consulting firm SEH Engineers have worked to satisfy those demands. They drilled an additional monitoring well last spring and conducted extensive water sampling. They also worked with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey to analyze nearby rock quarries aiming to prove the site is geologically stable and will not leak into the groundwater.
The county recently submitted preliminary geological narratives to the DNR and is currently waiting for feedback before filing a final feasibility addendum. Once that final addendum is filed officials estimate it will take at least 10 months to reach a feasibility decision which includes mandatory public comment periods and potential contested case hearings. If the feasibility is approved the county must then submit a detailed Plan of Operation for a second round of state approval before any construction can begin.
Simultaneously the county is required to negotiate a Town Host Agreement with the Town of Viroqua to address local economic and social impacts. Those negotiations remain at a standstill as the town demands strict contractual protections regarding groundwater liability property values and truck route enforcement while the county argues those demands duplicate state regulations.
Because of these prolonged delays the existing facility is now facing a daily space crisis.
The Recapture Proposal
Solid Waste Director Stacie Sanborn delivered the results of a recent airspace study to the Vernon County Infrastructure Committee on February 10 outlining a plan to essentially mine the existing landfill for unused room.
The proposal from SEH Engineers involves peeling back layers of intermediate soil cover that were placed over the garbage in previous years. Sanborn explained that some areas of the landfill have nearly three feet of clean soil taking up valuable space.
“If we take the soil off and fill it with waste we’re recapturing this 18,000 cubic yards,” said Sanborn. “But it’s buried”.
The logistical reality of being technically at capacity prompted sharp questions from the committee regarding daily operations.
“So you told all the drivers do not bring anything?” asked Supervisor Paul Wilson.
Sanborn clarified that she had not turned haulers away because she plans to reopen the covered sections.
“No I didn’t go telling all of our drivers not to bring garbage because we’re full,” said Sanborn. “Because we have technically 18,194 cubic yards remaining but it’s buried”.
Supervisor Martha Olson asked about the practical steps required to uncover the space.
“Is that something you could do or would you have to hire people to come in with a dozer?” asked Olson.
Sanborn noted they could potentially rent a dozer from the highway department and use their own staff but the exact costs are still unknown. Highway Commissioner Phil Hewitt suggested that using an excavator rather than a bulldozer would be the most efficient and cost effective way to handle the delicate earthmoving process without damaging the underlying waste.
“If you’re moving it and putting it back an excavator is probably going to be your bigger bang for your buck,” said Hewitt. “Small dozer is not very efficient moving dirt”.
Committee members expressed concern over the unbudgeted cost of the excavation work and the financial risk of investing in a facility that has not yet received state approval. Supervisor Charles Jacobson questioned whether the financial investment made sense given the uncertainty of the expansion permit.
“I guess I’d feel better if we had an idea of what it’s going to cost and where the bulldozer is coming from,” said Jacobson. “If it’s going to cost us more than it’s worth I mean I understand where you’re coming from but I’m coming from the financial side of it”.
Jacobson pushed back against spending significant funds just to delay closure.
“But that doesn’t mean you’re going to send three million dollars into something where you still don’t know if you’re going to get approval,” said Jacobson. “We’re guessing at numbers”.
Sanborn stressed that the unearthing process is not optional if the county wants the landfill to survive the permit waiting period.
“If we make no effort to recover this airspace we will be closing,” said Sanborn. “We filled 18,000 cubic yards of dirt instead of garbage that could have generated revenue”.
Waste Diversion and the City of Viroqua
Even if the county successfully recaptures the buried airspace Sanborn warned that it will not be enough to last until the expansion is constructed, a process that could another two years. To slow the flow of incoming trash the county is actively exploring waste diversion partnerships with neighboring municipalities.
Jacobson detailed a recent meeting with Monroe County officials who recently completed their own landfill expansion but lost a significant portion of their waste stream when a corporate hauler bought out a local competitor.
“They were losing like 60 percent of their volume because their lead hauler got bought up by GFL,” said Jacobson. “They just finished their expansion so they were looking for volume”.
Sanborn is also negotiating to send waste to La Crosse County and recently met with the City of Viroqua regarding their municipal waste contract. Viroqua generates roughly 1,200 tons of garbage annually and the city is considering allowing its hauler to take that waste to a different transfer station altogether. The landfill currently takes in about 10,000 tons a year.
Sanborn explained that GFL the primary hauler for Viroqua approached the city about stopping their deliveries to the Vernon County Landfill when their contract expires. GFL is seeking a two year extension to take the waste to their own transfer station. Sanborn noted that losing Viroqua as a customer would cost her department roughly $75,000 in revenue this year but admitted the county desperately needs the space.
“It’s a double edged sword,” said Sanborn. “It sucks for my budget but it’s buying us 1200 ton of airspace for the rest of this year anyway”.
The looming space shortage previously prompted the Infrastructure Committee in January to suspend its requirement that commercial haulers sign contracts guaranteeing they bring their waste to Vernon County. Sanborn told the committee then that haulers were uncomfortable signing agreements when the facility might close forcing the county to revert to a simple permit system.
“If you didn’t want a contract you’re paying 120 a ton,” said Sanborn. “If we do that and we get really bully about it we’re going to have a lot of issues”.
Permit Delays Continue
The extreme space conservation measures are driven by the sluggish state permitting process. SEH consultant Brian Kent reported to the committee remotely that his firm recently submitted the additional geological narratives utilizing data from the nearby rock quarries.
Following the submission of the quarry data the DNR informed the county they now want to send their own staff to physically inspect the neighboring rock quarries. Sanborn expressed intense frustration with the new request arguing the county has already paid its engineers to photograph and analyze those exact rock faces.
The prolonged timeline guarantees the solid waste department will spend the remainder of the year carefully managing every cubic yard of trash that crosses the scale.
Recycling Expansion and a Contentious Truck Request
The dire situation at the landfill prompted Sanborn to push for changes to the recycling department to generate new revenue and cut operational costs. Sanborn presented a proposal to purchase a front load packer truck and 60 new dumpsters which led to a heated debate among committee members over the financial risks of expanding services while the department operates at a deficit.
Sanborn broke down the math of the current failing system. She explained that the department currently uses three roll off trucks to conduct 77 runs a month just to pick up rural recycling dumpsters. This requires roughly 84 hours of staff time a week. Sanborn noted she personally spends Mondays Wednesdays and most of Thursdays out in the yard unloading those dumpsters and operating the baler.
Under the current system drivers must physically pick up the entire roll off dumpster haul it back to the landfill to be emptied and then return it to the rural drop off site. Sanborn explained that a front load packer truck is vastly more efficient because it empties the dumpster on the spot and drives directly to the next site.
Switching to a single front load packer truck would drop the collection trips down to just 32 runs a month saving roughly $46,500 annually in fuel repair and staffing.
“So I’m begging for my Packer truck some more,” said Sanborn. “It’s nothing but efficiency”.
Sanborn noted that the volume of recyclable materials is steadily rising forcing the department to consider increasing pickup frequencies just to keep up with changing consumer habits.
“If you think about it you go to the store everything you buy is either in a plastic container or it’s being shipped to your house in a cardboard box,” said Sanborn. “And that’s everywhere”.
Sanborn estimated a new truck would cost $375,500 while a leased option would run $106,500 a year. Or she could explore a used one.
She also emphasized the deteriorating condition of the current equipment noting that some of the existing roll off dumpsters were purchased 30 years ago and are beyond repair. She explained that replacing just two of those massive containers costs roughly $15,000 a year just to maintain the status quo.
To supply the new truck Sanborn requested $75,000 from the county Ho Chunk grant fund to purchase 60 new front load dumpsters at roughly $1,230 apiece.
“I asked for 60 of them so I can provide a plastic and a cardboard to each township,” said Sanborn. “It would also give us some extras that maybe instead of the plastic sheds at the facilities maybe we could provide a dumpster or it would give me additional containers to maybe start trying to put those out for business recycling to generate additional revenue”.
Sanborn said the truck would immediately save money on existing routes and open up an entirely new commercial recycling service. Local businesses currently lack good options for cardboard disposal because massive open containers take up too much space and leave the cardboard exposed to the weather.
“No business wants a roll off container sitting there for cardboard,” said Sanborn. “If we had a front load truck we could set them a front load dumpster and offer recycling service to businesses”.
Supervisor Charles Jacobson pushed back against the massive purchase arguing that the department is an enterprise fund that should not be subsidized by the general county levy. He questioned how the department could afford a massive capital purchase when they already lost over $20,000 on recycling last year.
“But with the existing volume you’re already losing money,” said Jacobson. “So if you have all this expense and your volume stays the same how are you going to make money”.
Sanborn said with new truck the savings would put the department in black even with the current volume.
Jacobson remained skeptical of the logistics and questioned what would happen if the single new truck broke down leaving the county unable to service its municipal routes. He then suggested the county halt all purchases and bring in an outside expert to evaluate the entire recycling operation.
“I guess I’d be more confident with this if we had somebody come in,” said Jacobson. “They knew what was going on looked at it and said this is outdated it doesn’t make any sense”.
Sanborn rejected the idea of hiring a consultant arguing it would be a waste of money when she had just provided the committee with the exact calculations proving how the new truck would increase efficiency and revenue.
“Are you suggesting to hire a consultant to come in and do a study of the recycling program,” asked Sanborn. “You know that would cost money? I just showed you how we operate now and how we could operate with this truck”.
She noted that completely modernizing the building with automated sorting equipment for commingled recycling would cost the county between three and five million dollars.
“In the building we can’t get any more efficient,” said Sanborn. “It’s the trucking right now that we’re not efficient in”.
Committee Chair Lorn Goede defended Sanborns proposal arguing that the county cannot demand the department act like a business and then refuse to fund the very upgrades needed to make it profitable.
“You know we asked the Department to operate its business and to make business decisions,” said Goede. “And then when it figures out a way that it’s going to make more money and reduce expenses then you know we want to tie the hands behind the back”.
Goede further questioned the strict enforcement of enterprise fund rules pointing out that the county has historically subsidized other departments like the Vernon Manor nursing home. Enterprise funds are designed to be stand alone self supporting county departments that are paid for entirely by user fees and revenues rather than property tax levy dollars. However Vernon Manor operated at a significant financial loss for years requiring heavy subsidies from the county general fund to remain open.
“Vernon Manor is an enterprise fund that costs us a ton of money,” said Goede.
Jacobson countered that subsidizing the nursing home was a financial mistake that occurred because previous county boards were not given accurate reports regarding the facility.
“It was being hidden from the full board intentionally or not,” said Jacobson. “It was being hidden from the full board of how much money was coming out of that every year to cover that and that should never happen again”.
To stop the financial bleeding the county recently contracted the day to day management of the nursing home and the neighboring Vernon Acres assisted living facility to the Bethany St Joseph Corporation. Since the takeover officials report the facility has started showing a profit.
Despite the massive costs associated with the landfill expansion including hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on outside engineering and legal fees the Solid Waste and Recycling Department has historically utilized zero tax levy dollars to operate relying entirely on tipping fees and material sales. Sanborn argued that taking out a loan to improve recycling efficiency is exactly how an enterprise fund should function to remain self sufficient.
Supervisor Martha Olson suggested that even if the landfill expansion is ultimately denied by the state investing in recycling might be the future of the department.
“Honestly I think the landfill is a lost hope even if it’s approved I don’t know how we’d afford $3 million,” said Olson. “So our option could possibly be recycling for people. I think a lot of citizens will be on board with that”.
The committee ultimately voted 4 to 1 to forward the truck financing request to the Finance Committee for further review. The committee then voted 4 to 1 to separately forward the $75,000 Ho Chunk funding request for the dumpsters. Jacobson cast the lone dissenting vote on both measures.
The county could enjoy a dramatic increase in revenue to fund the things a county must fund if it were to make all the “tax exempt” churches pay a form of property tax on the land area upon which their buildings sit. . .