‘Mind-boggling’ Wayne County landfill expansion draws heat from residents

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Demonstrators showed up Thursday night to protest ahead of a hearing on Wayne Disposal’s proposal to expand its Van Buren Township landfill, which has taken hundreds of thousands of tons of Manhattan Project-era radioactive waste.

“This was never a good decision to put this landfill on a location on top of the Huron River watershed,” said Van Buren Township resident Jeneen Rippey, cofounder and president of the nonprofit group Michigan Against Atomic Waste.

Rippey, who lives on Belleville Lake and coaches softball at Beck Ball Fields, adjacent to the landfill’s footprint, said it’s “mind-boggling” that regulators would consider expanding a landfill in such a heavily populated area.

A draft license from Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy released Aug. 14 signals it will approve Republic Services’ proposed expansion for Wayne Disposal Inc., which seeks a 23% increase in capacity and the addition of a treatment process to immobilize debris from waste, such as lead-contaminated pipes.

The expansion would increase the maximum allowed elevation for the landfill from 140 feet to 215 feet, Christine Matlock, an EGLE environmental engineer, previously said.

The site accepts some of the most harmful chemicals in existence, including PCBs, dioxins, and PFAS chemicals.

Wayne Disposal property has 100 monitoring sites: Landfill owner

Lawmakers expressed anger when news broke in August 2024 that Manhattan Project-era radioactive waste was coming to the site.

As of Oct. 27, 2024, over 300,000 cubic yards of radioactive waste had been shipped to Wayne Disposal, which is the only site east of the Mississippi approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to receive this type of material from the Manhattan Project-era sites it manages.

At Thursday night’s hearing at the Wayne County Community College District’s Belleville campus, roughly 40 commenters raised concerns about issues like how the landfill’s runoff could impact Belleville Lake, the Huron River, and the Great Lakes. Several attendees complained of foul odors and truck traffic associated with the site, which they said adds  risk in a growing community.

Michigan regulators are legally required to issue a permit if it meets technical requirements, EGLE’s Matlock said Thursday.

Republic spokesperson Melissa Quillard said in a statement: “Wayne Disposal Inc. (WDI) has been safely receiving and managing technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) and other hazardous materials for many years, providing essential waste disposal services.”

The landfill has 100 monitoring points for surface water, groundwater, soil, leachate, leak detection, and radon, she said, adding that monitoring results show the landfill meets regulatory standards and poses no risk to the community or environment.

In an August injunction temporarily barring Manhattan Project-era waste from coming to the site, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kevin Cox underscored possible impacts to waterways.

“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. 

During the hearing’s question and answer session, State Rep. Reggie Miller (D-Van Buren Township) said regulators should consider the disproportionate impact the expansion would have on an area that’s also home to Willow Run Airport and the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratories’ proposed data center.

According to MiEJScreen, EGLE’s environmental justice screening tool, the Census Tract where Wayne Disposal is located is in the 83rd percentile, a score indicating well-above average pollution exposure and high levels of underlying health issues in the community.

‘Astounding’ risks to waterways

Several residents said the community around Wayne Disposal has grown significantly since the landfill was established, and the facility’s impacts are affecting this increasing population.

Wayne Disposal was created in 1970 before hazardous waste handling and storage were regulated under state or federal law, according to EGLE.

Jaime Finfrock, who has lived in the area since 1981, said it has become heavily residential, and she has observed an increase in truck traffic.

“I know a lot of people who were born and raised here,” she said. “Most of us have some sort of health issue.”

Commenter James Chudzinski said the landfill should be downsized, not expanded.

“The possibility of risks are astounding,” he said, speaking about the potential for landfill runoff entering Belleville Lake via the Quirk Drain.

Leachate, or water that comes into contact with landfill waste, is treated on site before being sent to the South Huron Valley Utility Authority, according to Tracy Kecskemeti, acting director of EGLE’s Materials Management Division. Other precipitation running off grass and roads at the site goes through a different treatment process and is discharged to the Quirk Drain, she said.

At the urging of residents, EGLE sampled water discharged into Quirk Drain for radionuclides, or radioactive elements. The preliminary results were “below monitoring thresholds,” according to Jay Paquette, radioactive materials unit supervisor for EGLE.

Kecskemeti said that once results are finalized, the agency’s water quality staff will discuss whether to incorporate radionuclide testing into the facility’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit for discharging water into Quirk Drain.

One commenter raised the issue of a “100-year storm,” which occurred on Aug. 24, 2023, bringing over 7 inches of rainfall to the area, raising the possibility the event could have overwhelmed the facility’s ability to manage stormwater.

Joe Rogers, with EGLE’s material management division, said he does not remember the August 2023 storm posing a problem for Wayne Disposal, adding that the facility has a capacity to manage a larger amount of water than what’s produced by a 100-year storm.

State lawmaker says EGLE a ‘rubber stamp’ for polluters

Demonstrators called on Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) to advance Miller and State Sen. Darrin Camilleri’s (D-Trenton) hazardous waste legislation, which the Michigan Senate passed last month.

The legislation would raise tipping fees for landfill waste, nuclear materials, and hazardous waste. and prohibit new or expanded hazardous waste facilities and class VI injection wells in overburdened communities or areas that exceed certain population densities, among other provisions.

Miller told Planet Detroit that Republic is rushing to finalize its expansion through before the legislation passes. The bills wouldn’t prevent the expansion, but could add protections and prevent further expansions, she said.

After Miller’s told demonstrators the state is likely headed for a shutdown over its failure to enact a budget, one asked the lawmaker whether EGLE’s funding should be cut.

“I would not object,” Miller said.

When asked for clarification, Miller said the agency is operating as a “rubber stamp” for businesses seeking permits.

“If they’re not doing their job for the public and protecting us, then what’s the justification here?”

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