Overview:
- US Ecology Detroit South's new operating license runs through 2035.
- It includes an odor management plan and requires installation of odor control equipment by Dec. 31, 2027.
- “Everyone wants to be outside, but they just approved the thing that makes it hard to be outside sometimes in our neighborhood," says east side resident Eric Hergenreder.
Michigan regulators renewed the operating license Wednesday for US Ecology Detroit South, a hazardous waste facility on the city’s east side, allowing the site to continue storing and treating millions of gallons of waste through 2035.
The license, renewed by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), allows the facility to continue its waste treatment and storage operations at its present capacity: roughly 1.2 million gallons of waste in storage for up to a year, and 1.8 million gallons treated per day.
The permit comes with “updated and strengthened conditions designed to improve protection of the surrounding community and the environment,” EGLE said in a news release.
The requirements outlined in the permit include expanded monitoring of air and groundwater quality; an odor management plan and installation of odor control equipment by Dec. 31, 2027; and the replacement of six existing treatment tanks starting in January.
The odor management plan outlines actions US Ecology must take to “modify or reduce operations in response to future odor violations,” according to the state.
“Our community efforts have made a difference,” said Rev. Sharon Buttry, board secretary of the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments, which is among the local organizations that mobilized neighborhood activism against US Ecology and other industrial sites.
“They are going to have to do major renovations at the facility to address those odors, because it’s the quality of life for the community that’s the issue,” Buttry said.
In the lead-up to EGLE’s decision, neighbors, elected officials, and environmental activists advocated for the closure of the hazardous waste facility, citing US Ecology’s long track record of nuisance odor violations. The Wayne County Commission unanimously approved a resolution Oct. 2 in opposition to a license renewal for US Ecology.
US Ecology has received dozens of state violations for air quality noncompliance at the Frederick Street facility since 2014, according to EGLE’s MiEnviro portal. The company took ownership of the facility in June 2014.
Melissa Quillard, a spokesperson for Republic Services, which owns US Ecology, told Planet Detroit that Wednesday’s license renewal “helps ensure that complex waste streams are handled responsibly, safeguarding both the environment and the communities we serve.”
US Ecology will remain under routine inspection and monitoring by EGLE, which as recently as Nov. 21 conducted an investigation into an air quality complaint about the facility.
The inspection resulted in a violation notice issued by the state on Dec. 5, according to a response US Ecology filed with the state Wednesday. The company fully enacted the odor management plan as a result of the violation, the letter said.
An EGLE spokesperson told Planet Detroit earlier this month that a decision on US Ecology’s operating license would not be issued until its air quality violations were resolved.
For residents on the city’s lower east side, odors from US Ecology compound the health impacts of nearby legacy polluters, as well as surrounding freeways and industrial sites.
“I think there has been some headway” in informing the community about the area’s environmental issues, said Eric Hergenreder, who lives within a mile-and-a-half of the hazardous waste facility. He described Wednesday’s decision as “annoying.”
“Everyone wants to be outside, but they just approved the thing that makes it hard to be outside sometimes in our neighborhood.”
After moving to the east side during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hergenreder said he got involved with the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition, leaning on the experience of longtime residents who organized against other facilities like Detroit’s former trash incinerator.
“This (US Ecology) facility is a mile from the DIA, and a lot of people who live in Midtown don’t even really know that it’s there, and I think it affects them just as much as it affects us, but we just kind of have to be downwind of it,” he said.
🗳️ What’s next? Tips for civic action
Why it matters
⚡ The US Ecology Detroit South facility at St. Aubin and Frederick, which impacts the air quality on Detroit’s lower east side, was granted a 10-year license renewal by Michigan’s environmental regulator.
Who’s making civic decisions
🏛️ The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
How to take civic action now
- 📅 Attend a monthly community meeting hosted by the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments, a community group made up of residents and concerned individuals who live in zip codes surrounded by industry on the east side. The next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Georgia Street Community Collective, 8902 Vinton St., Detroit.
- 📩 Send questions about the US Ecology license renewal with Tianna Kilgore, an environmental engineer with EGLE’s Materials Management Division at KilgoreT@Michigan.gov or 517-230-4395. The Materials Management Division oversees hazardous waste programs.
- 📱 Call the Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) hotline 24/7 to report an environmental or public health emergency at 800-292-4706.
Civic impact
🌍 Reporting environmental complaints and participating in Michigan’s environmental regulation process creates a public record of the concerns of citizens, a fuller picture of air quality in the community, and presents more information for state officials who make decisions on polluting facilities.
⭐ Please let us know what action you took or if you have any additional questions. Please send a quick email to connect@planetdetroit.org.
MORE REPORTING ON US ECOLOGY
Activists demand shutdown of Detroit hazardous waste facility with long violation history
US Ecology has received dozens of state violations for air quality noncompliance at the Frederick Street facility since 2014.
US Ecology hazardous waste facility’s neighbors urge license rejection: ‘Who wants to live in a place that’s massively polluted?’
Michigan’s environmental regulator issued an air quality violation for a US Ecology hazardous waste facility in Detroit on the same day as a public hearing on its license renewal.
‘We can’t even keep our windows open’: Poletown East residents protest outside US Ecology South plant ahead of permit renewal
Strong odors filled the air outside of the US Ecology South facility Thursday as a group of Michigan politicians joined with community members and organizations to demand that the City of Detroit establish a Host Community Agreement with US Ecology South. The company is seeking a permit renewal from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great…
