Is dumping concrete waste illegal in Madison?

Concrete wastewater, and the slurry from cutting concrete with a saw, are very toxic to aquatic life.  In addition, the waste contains chromium, a known carcinogen that can contaminate groundwater.

So... is dumping this material at a construction site illegal in Madison?

In Madison

"For general city projects discharge of concrete to the stormwater system is prohibited by the Standard Specifications section 104.10," p. 18:

Concrete trucks or any other equipment shall not be flushed out onto public streets, walks, or gutters. This does not include streets being worked on within the project, unless they are completed pavements.
For City projects with lots of concrete, the City puts highly detailed, specific language about handling concrete waste into the contract. For an example, see Bid Item 90039.

However, there are many projects with only a little concrete involved, and these do not have the specific language. So these projects would be covered under the Standard Specs above. These projects with "just a little concrete" still produce a lot of waste.

"For both City and private projects, the Health Department considers the discharge of concrete wash water to the curb to be an illicit discharg--and they regulate it under Madison General Ordinances 7.46." These ordinances don't specifically mention concrete wastewater, but obviously it would be included among the pollutants regulated.

Provisions call for notification via 911,  fines between $50 and $2,000 a day, and financial liability for cleanup.

At constructon sites, City Engineer Greg Fries says: "Generally washing of chutes to a pit on site is acceptable - if no pit is available generally the practice is to wash in to an artificial pit (normally stacked concrete forms lined with a geotextile membrane).

In Wisconsin (The DNR)

Ready mix plants are tightly regulated.  See the permit webpage here and the information sheet here.

Greg Fries says: "There are no WDNR regs (that I am aware of) for washing of concrete chutes at construction sites. Although work with Jim Bertolacini on this issue in previous years allows me to say that Jim Bertolacini considered discharge of wash water to the curb to be an illicit discharge."

The EPA

...considers concrete wastewater important enough to issue a BMP fact sheet on how to handle it.

In the State of Maryland

 "On September 13, 2010, the Office of the Attorney General... filed a civil Complaint for Civil Penalties in the Circuit Court for Allegany County seeking a civil penalty of $10,000 for alleged water pollution violations..., specifically wet concrete and concrete dust, resulting in a fish kill to Sand Spring Run at a stormwater construction project in Frostburg." The defendant was Lashley Construction Company, Inc.  Source

In New Zealand, "the Polluter Pays" for mishandling concrete waste

"Polluters can face an infringement fee of up to $1000 or imprisonment for a maximum term of two years or a fine of up to $200,000, with a further $10,000 for each day the discharge continues."

Landowners: you are responsible for any work on your land. Make sure the contractor you hire knows how to do the job properly."

"Bosses: you are responsible for the actions of your staff. Make sure you train them well and give them the proper tools for the job."

"Workers: you must do the job properly.  If you cause pollution, you could lose your job, get a fine or even go to jail."  Source

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Wisconsin Contractors who have dumped concrete wastewater

Rawson Contractors

Speedway Sand and Gravel

Tri-North Builders

Parisi Construction
S&L Underground and Trucking

Acknowledgements: Thanks to David Liebl, Greg Fries, and Roger Bannerman for quickly responding with much helpful information.  The info in quotes about Madison and DNR is from an email from Fries.