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Wayne County commissioners plan to hold a public discussion Tuesday on a controversial plan to move hazardous and radioactive waste to a landfill in Van Buren Township.
The public discussion is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Guardian Building at 500 Griswold Street in Detroit. Several officials expressed concern about the plan after the Detroit Free Press reported that Wayne Disposal would dispose of 5,500 cubic yards of dirt and concrete and 1,600 liters of radioactively contaminated groundwater from a site in New York where the Manhattan Project developed the atomic bomb during and after World War II.
“The dumping of nuclear waste poses a serious threat to area residents and our entire county, and we want to make sure their voices are heard,” said Alisha Bell, chair of the Wayne County Commission, in a statement. “We are the 19th most populous county in the country and have the world’s largest freshwater supplies. There are certainly other, less populated and less risky places to store this waste.”
Environmental officials are expected to participate in the discussion, including Elizabeth Browne of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and Patrick Cullen of the county’s Environmental Services Division. Van Buren Mayor Kevin McNamara is also expected to attend. The commissioners hope to provide enough information to divert the hazardous waste elsewhere, according to the Wayne County Commission.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans previously questioned why waste finds its way to Wayne County. Wayne Disposal and Michigan Disposal, both Arizona-based waste giants, operate some of the largest hazardous waste landfills and processing facilities in the country.
“While I understand that these materials have to go somewhere, and few, if any, public entities are willing to welcome toxic waste with open arms, there must be a solution through new policies or legislation that does not use Wayne County as a dumping ground for things no one else wants. Because that is a task we simply will not accept,” Evans said in a statement.
State and local authorities are powerless to regulate hazardous waste. A 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on imported garbage declared out-of-state garbage to be “articles of commerce” — essentially goods or commodities — that could not be restricted under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. That case arose when St. Clair County officials tried to prevent a local landfill from accepting out-of-state garbage.
State Senator Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) called the plan to accept the waste “alarming” in a statement on Monday and called for a broader discussion on hazardous waste disposal in the country.
“Wayne County is the most populous county in Michigan and our state is surrounded by 20% of the world’s fresh water. We cannot continue to be America’s dumping ground for toxic waste. Our county and our community deserve so much better,” Camilleri said.
The meeting will also be livestreamed on the Wayne County Commission’s YouTube page and is available via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/2234975895.
More: How Southeast Michigan became a dumping ground for America’s most dangerous chemicals
Free Press reporter Keith Matheny contributed to this story.
Dana Afana is the Free Press’ Detroit City Hall reporter. Contact: [email protected]. Follow her: @DanaAfana.
