Soil excavation part of neighbors’ settlement with Madison Kipp

Additional testing shows contamination levels not result of Kipp's operations

MADISON, Wis. — Some residents on Madison’s near east side are having their backyards and trees excavated as part of a settlement with Madison Kipp Corporation.

The settlement requires Madison Kipp to either excavate the top foot of soil from the backyard or bring in 1 foot of clean topsoil to cover the backyard, Wisconsin Department of Resources officials said. The landowners had the choice of those two options or to take a cash settlement in place of the soil management options.

Neighbors on Marquette Street filed suit in October 2011, and it grew to a class-action lawsuit because of concerns about possible soil and water contamination from Kipp, a factory that makes car parts.

Since the settlement, additional testing showed that elevated contamination in the yards is not the result of Kipp’s operations but is consistent with levels found throughout the east side, according to a release from Madison Kipp.

“We have worked with our neighbors to create an individualized plan for each yard based on their requests and over half of our neighbors have chosen to have no additional work done,” Madison Kipp Environmental and Safety Coordinator Alina Walcek said in the release.

During the soil work Kipp is replacing an old fence, which requires the removal of some trees, according to the release. The company has agreed to replace any trees neighbors would like replaced.