Detroit — Tons of waste from Manhattan Project cleanup sites will continue to be shipped to a western Wayne County landfill unless a circuit court judge acts to stop or limit it, attorneys representing Wayne County municipalities argued in circuit court Tuesday.
Five municipalities and a local fire chief are suing Wayne Disposal, Inc., the landfill operator in Van Buren Township, arguing that radiological waste does not belong in the populous area and that municipal officials were not adequately warned of the waste moving through their communities.
Attorneys representing the municipalities and Wayne Disposal made their closing arguments Tuesday before Wayne Circuit Court Judge Kevin Cox.
To the communities, it is unreasonable to import waste generated by the nation’s nuclear program to the area of Van Buren Township near neighborhoods, daycares and schools. They raised concerns that an increase in radioactivity at the landfill could harm the health of its neighbors. They said a court injunction blocking Wayne Disposal from accepting that waste would protect them from that risk.
The waste also causes a nuisance, the municipalities’ attorneys argued, blocking neighbors from enjoying or feeling at peace in their homes. They said the waste should be stored in more remote hazardous waste landfills that Wayne Disposal’s owner, Republic Services, has in Texas and Idaho, but instead is transported to Michigan because it’s closer to some cleanup sites.
“We are really here today because of trucking costs alone,” attorney Stephen Brown said to Cox. “Van Buren Township is doomed to take a huge share of this entire nation’s (Manhattan Project waste) unless you act.”
But Scott Watson, an attorney representing Wayne Disposal, which is owned by Republic Services, said the municipalities did not present any evidence that their residents are actually harmed by the waste.
The facility complies with environmental law, Watson said.
The communities’ concerns “belong before the legislature,” he said, since Congress ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clean up Manhattan Project sites.
Watson said the communities are basing their arguments on fear and anxiety, not proof that the environment or their health is harmed by the landfilling of enhanced radiological material at Wayne Disposal. He argued an injunction that limited the amount of Manhattan Project waste in Wayne Disposal would not ease their fear.
Mike Caldwell, an attorney representing Wayne County, said it is “the height of human arrogance” to believe engineering controls at a hazardous waste facility will work every time.
“You can’t keep rolling the dice,” he said. “Eventually, one’s going to come up. The communities’ fears of that event are reasonable, and they’re more reasonable the more waste of this nature gets disposed of at the landfill.”
Wayne Disposal, Inc., has been accepting enhanced radiological material since 2006 and has accepted waste from six Manhattan Project cleanup sites.
Community members were outraged in 2024 after it was revealed the Army Corps would be shipping contaminated soil to Wayne Disposal, Inc. The Niagara Falls Storage Site was used to store radioactive residue and waste from uranium ore processing that was done to develop the atomic bomb during World War II.
Community members argued in public meetings that the waste should instead be sent to disposal sites in more remote locations, not in an area crowded with neighborhoods, parks and schools.
Canton Charter Township, Romulus, Belleville, Van Buren Charter Township, the Van Buren Township Fire Chief and Wayne County then sued Wayne Disposal Inc. to block the waste from being imported to the facility.
The waste is considered “TENORM,” shorthand for technologically enhanced naturally occurring radiological material. TENORM includes material made by concentrating or processing naturally radioactive elements.
Early this year, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy allowed Wayne Disposal to vertically expand by 5 million cubic yards and pile waste up to 225 feet. It was previously allowed to stack waste up to 150 feet.
At the time, EGLE spokesman Josef Stephens said the license upgraded their air monitoring to better detect off-site impacts and added new requirements for stormwater controls and reporting requirements during construction and extreme weather.
Republic Services cheered the approval. Spokeswoman Melissa Quillard said the company is taking “all necessary steps to comply with the updated requirements.”
Others, including state Rep. Reggie Miller, D-Van Buren Township, voiced opposition to EGLE’s decision. She said she was “extremely disappointed” that the department ignored the wishes of residents who did not want the expansion approved.
Attorney Theresa Bodwin, representing Wayne County in the case against Wayne Disposal, on Tuesday said the landfill only measures air quality around its facility every 13 days, not continuously.
“It is not good enough,” she said. “(Wayne Disposal) can do better than this.”
Bodwin also said the facility should increase its monitoring of radon, coordinate hazardous waste shipment routes with municipalities and clearly mark shipments of waste so first responders can be prepared for emergencies.
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Attorneys make closing arguments to bar Manhattan Project waste from Wayne County
Reporting by Carol Thompson, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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