Overview:
-A Wayne County judge's order blocks nuclear waste from Manhattan Project-era sites from being shipped to Wayne Disposal in Van Buren Township.
-The facility has received hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of elevated radiation waste, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
-Landfill owner Republic Services indicated it will challenge the preliminary injunction.
A preliminary injunction issued Wednesday blocks shipments of Manhattan Project-era radioactive waste from being sent to the Wayne Disposal Inc. facility in Van Buren Township.
The legal battle over the shipments began in 2024 when news broke that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to send elevated radiation waste from the Niagara Falls Storage Site in Lewiston, New York to Wayne County.
Belleville, Van Buren Township, Canton Township, Romulus, and the Van Buren Township Fire Chief filed a lawsuit to stop the shipments, and Wayne County intervened in the case.
The injunction issued by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kevin Cox goes beyond a previous restraining order preventing delivery of materials from the Niagara site. The expanded order includes all Manhattan Project-era sites the Corps manages as part of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program — FUSRAP — program.
“Runoff rainwater and/or contaminated surface water from the WDI Facility, if not fully contained and treated on site, would flow into one or more of the county drains and/or could drain into nearby Belleville Lake, the Huron River, and Lake Erie,” Cox said in the order.
Corps officials told Planet Detroit last year that Wayne Disposal has received hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of elevated radiation waste from over a dozen sites since at least 2018.
Opposition to radioactive waste ‘proud moment of regional unity’: Romulus mayor
Elected officials hailed the ruling as a victory for their efforts to rein in radioactive waste, which many argue jeopardizes resident health and local waterways.
“This ruling is a massive victory for Western Wayne County and the countless residents who have used their voice to fight against the dumping of toxic materials in our community,” state Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) said in a statement. More work is needed to pass state-level hazardous waste reform, he said.
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight said in a statement that the ruling is a critical win for resident health and safety.
“This is a proud moment of regional unity,” he said. “We stood together with our neighboring community leaders, demanded accountability, and now we’re seeing results.”
Republic Services, which owns Wayne Disposal, indicated it will challenge the injunction.
“The Circuit Court’s ruling is overly broad and will have detrimental impacts on the remediation of sites within the FUSRAP program,” said Republic spokesperson Melissa Quillard. Wayne Disposal would continue to pursue a “just and proper resolution of the matter,” she said.
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Radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project is being shipped to a landfill in Van Buren Township, Michigan, raising alarms about potential hazards and sparking public outrage.
Wayne Disposal’s permit renewal a potential flashpoint in Michiganders’ fight to stop radioactive waste
Around 80 Belleville residents gathered Tuesday to discuss ways to block radioactive waste from entering their community, focusing the discussion on an upcoming permit renewal for the facility receiving the hazardous material. In August, the Detroit Free Press reported that radioactive waste shipments from the Manhattan Project would be sent from the Niagara Falls Storage…
Wayne Disposal seeks expansion, lawmakers look to add protections
Michigan regulators are considering a permit for a 23% expansion of Wayne Disposal’s capacity that would increase the maximum allowed elevation for the landfill from 140 feet to 215 feet.
In a 2024 settlement between Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, the Sierra Club and others, EGLE agreed to perform an environmental justice analysis and cumulative impact review when issuing or renewing a hazardous waste facility license.
According to MiEJScreen, EGLE’s environmental justice screening tool, the Census Tract where Wayne Disposal is located is in the 83rd percentile, while the tract to the south of the facility is in the 72nd percentile. These scores indicate above average pollution exposure and high levels of underlying health issues in the community.
Republic’s Quillard said Cox’s ruling will not impact Wayne Disposal’s expansion request.
Camilleri and State Rep. Reggie Miller (D-Van Buren Township) introduced legislation in April that could change how the state regulates hazardous waste, raising disposal fees for landfill waste, hazardous materials and radioactive waste, and prohibiting the disposal of certain types of radioactive waste.
The legislation would institute a moratorium on licenses for new hazardous waste facilities until EGLE completes a new plan for hazardous waste, extending the moratorium for new facilities or expansions in areas where the total capacity exceeds limits set in the plan.
Attorney Brandon Grysko, who represented several plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told Planet Detroit the preliminary injunction could eventually go to trial, where said he believes his clients would have a strong case.
Cox’s ruling states that Wayne County and the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, Grysko said.
“The ruling sends a clear message vindicating the concerns of the local officials and the thousands of residents that they represent,” Grysko said in a statement.