No risk to public from stored Manhattan Project waste: Wayne Disposal trial witness

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The Wayne Disposal landfill’s radiation presents no risk to the public or environment, a radiological science expert called to testify by the landfill’s lawyers said Thursday during a trial over shipments of Manhattan Project-era waste to the Van Buren Township facility. 

Alan Fellman, a health physicist, spoke on a range of topics, including the risk radioactive waste poses to workers and the public, the dangers created by transporting the material, and a New York State Health Department report on the incidence of cancer near the Niagara Falls Storage Site in Lewiston, New York.

The Lewiston location was scheduled to send elevated radiation waste, called TENORM, to the Wayne Disposal Inc. landfill in Van Buren Township until an Aug. 6 injunction ordered by Wayne County Circuit Judge Kevin Cox blocked the shipments. The hazardous waste facility is owned by Republic Services. 

Fellman testified that Michigan environmental rules and the landfill’s policies and procedures protect the public from TENORM stored at the facility.

Some research shows that low doses of radiation are beneficial, Fellman said, although he acknowledged that this is a controversial viewpoint.

The legal battle over the shipments began in 2024 after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to transport the Niagara Falls waste to Wayne Disposal.

Belleville, Van Buren Township, Canton Township, Romulus, and the Van Buren Township fire chief filed suit in September 2024 to stop the shipments, and Wayne County intervened in the case.

Closing arguments in the case are expected to begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17. Cox will decide the outcome of the bench trial.

Public has no guarantee of waste’s safety or risk, Cox says

Cox questioned Fellman Thursday over his assertion that the New York  study failed to show an association between radiation at the Niagara site and the incidence of cancer.

 “If it’s your opinion that there’s no public health being compromised due to the presence of TENORM at the Niagara Falls site, then, as a scientist, why are they sending it to (Wayne Disposal)?” Cox asked.

“I don’t know,” Fellman replied.

Stephen Brown, an attorney for the Wayne County communities that sued, called attention to Fellman’s opposition to the linear no-threshold (LNT) theory, which states that any exposure to radiation is harmful no matter how low the dose.

Fellman affirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency uses the LNT model, and said the agency has a conflict of interest. He has previously said the EPA could lose funding and institutional relevance if it abandons LNT, according to Thursday’s testimony.

Brown said that, unlike other experts who testified, Fellman opined on a breadth of topics, including transportation law, state and federal law, and landfill regulation. He referred to the witness as a “renaissance man,” before Cox told the attorney his tone was inappropriate.

At the close of Thursday’s testimony, Cox said that previous testimony asserted that some parcels around Wayne Disposal cannot be sold because of possible Manhattan Project shipments. Widespread opposition to the shipments exists, he said.

“Does it make sense to you, either as a scientist or not, that those citizens have perhaps legitimate fears and concerns because they’re lay people and there’s no opinion that’s been provided to them that guarantees 100% whether this material does or does not pose a health risk?” Cox asked.

“I can appreciate that concern amongst the community,” Fellman said.

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