You may have noticed a new message that was hand-painted on a building along the bike path and Eastwood Drive.
Ken Koeppler, the man who painted it, says he did it “out of desperation.”
“Evers and the WI Legislature think I should pay to clean up contamination from the dry cleaner on this site in the 60’s and 70’s,” reads the message. “I wasn’t told this when I bought the property in 1987. 28 years later the DNR told me I’m responsible. $50k later it could still cost me hundreds of thousands more!!!”
The message urges the public to “please take five minutes” to contact the governor and lawmakers on Koeppler’s behalf.
The 70-year-old musician’s dilemma started in 2015 with a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, asking for Koeppler’s cooperation in the agency’s effort to investigate former dry cleaning sites. He lived in the building at the corner of Russell Street and Eastwood Drive for 17 years before turning it into a rental property in 2004. Long before he bought it, the city had approved the former dry cleaning business being converted into a residential home.
“I still live in the neighborhood. I care about the health of my neighbors and thought it was my duty to see if there was any potential environmental contamination,” Koeppler tells Isthmus. “I had no idea what I was in for.”
With Koeppler’s permission, the DNR bore holes under the Russell Street home and found soil contamination from chemicals used by the dry cleaning business. They also detected unsafe levels of dangerous vapors. The DNR told Koeppler to hire an engineer and fix the issue, which he did so the house would be safe to live in. But then the state agency informed him about contamination of the groundwater which he learned might also impact other properties. After spending $50,000 on remediation, engineers and lawyers, Koeppler says that he’s potentially on the hook for hundreds of thousands more.
“As far as the DNR is concerned, I’m completely financially responsible for the cleanup. I could be digging wells all the way to the Yahara River until they find the edge of the plume. Until then, the DNR can’t declare the site closed,” says Koeppler. “The property is now worthless, I can’t give it away, but the city still makes me pay taxes on it.”
Sarah Hoye, communications director for the DNR, says the agency “Is simply implementing state law.”
“The DNR previously provided Mr. Koeppler with the opportunity to share his financial situation with the state. The DNR used the US Environmental Protection Agency’s financial software to determine if he had the financial ability to pay for the next steps to investigate the site,” writes Hoye in a statement provided to Isthmus. “The conclusion of that financial evaluation was that Mr. Koeppler had the ability to pay for the next steps in the investigation of the site.”
In 2017, Koeppler says Rep. Chris Taylor and Sen. Fred Risser were both sympathetic to his situation and supported a bipartisan bill called the “Innocent Purchaser Protection” law — which would use state tax dollars to clean up environmental contamination when it can be proven that a property was not on the DNR’s list of contaminated properties at the time of purchase and a previous owner caused the contamination. The bill failed to reach a vote in 2017 and has been languishing in the Legislature ever since.
Now, the city is threatening to issue fines if Koeppler doesn’t remove the message he painted on the side of the Russell Street house. The building inspector says it violates a Madison sign ordinance.
Koeppler still thinks his best hope for a resolution to the contamination issue is through the state. But he’s also considering a lawsuit against the DNR.
“It’s that or go bankrupt,” Koeppler tells Isthmus.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
