EGLE Issues Two New Violation Notices

Northville - March 11, 2020

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) recently issued two Violation Notices to the operators of the Arbor Hills Landfill. The violations are evidence that the landfill continues to be operated out of compliance with the rules established to regulate municipal waste landfills. The result is the noxious odors and the unknown excess air emissions the downwind communities have been experiencing.  Please find an overview of our understanding of the violations below.

Arbor Hills Energy (A.K.A - Fortistar), who owns and operates the Landfill Gas to Energy Plant, has a similar record of noncompliance. Arbor Hills Energy has been exceeding SO2 emission limits since at least May of 2015. An additional emission test recently confirmed the continuing excess SO2 emissions (see Violation Notice below). Arbor Hills Energy should have solved the excess SO2 emission problem long ago by installing process equipment to remove sulfur from the landfill gas. This type of equipment is currently in use in many landfills in our region. Instead of installing the pollution control equipment, Arbor Hills Energy has attempted to increase its permit limits (unsuccessfully), likely in an attempt to save the expense of installing the additional equipment. 

Advanced Disposal Service Violation Notice

On February 27, 2020 EGLE issued a Violation Notice to Advanced Disposal Services for improperly venting landfill gasses directly the atmosphere. All landfill gasses must be combusted either in the Landfill Gas to Energy Turbines or in one of the 3 on-site flares. ADS discovered and reported that a valve was found partially open which allowed captured landfill gasses to by-pass Enclosed Flare #1 from February 7 - 10. The bypass situation likely contributed to the 35 odor complaints that were submitted during this time period.

The Violation Notice details all portions of applicable regulations and ADS’ permit which were violated.

Arbor Hills Energy (A.K.A. Fortistar) Violation Notice

On March 3, 2020 EGLE issued a Violation Notice to Arbor Hills Energy for exceeding SO2 limits contained in the facility’s air permit. The excess emissions total more than 40 tons/year which is the level where the emissions are considered ‘significant’ and trigger the need for a special type permit   (Potential for Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit). The violation notice is based on emission testing performed on Turbine #4 on December 20, 2019. The testing was required by the facility’s permit.

These results simply confirm previous test results and previous violation notices. Arbor Hills Energy has been continuously exceeding SO2 limits since at least May of 2015.

In light of these on-going violations, The Conservancy Initiative continues to request that the Attorney General’s office take legal actions to compel the operators of the landfill to accept the corrective actions developed by EGLE and impose penalties commensurate with the many years of noncompliance. Corrective actions should not have to be developed by State Regulators; the landfill operator, Advanced Disposal Services (ADS), has the knowledge and obligation to solve the problems.  To date, ADS has not operated the landfill in legal compliance, which is why the Attorney General must act.

The Conservancy Initiative attempts to maintain a list of all EGLE and USEPA Air Quality Violation Notices related to the landfill. Click here to view the list.

Open Letter to Attorney General and Community Leaders

March 3, 2020

To: D. Nessel (MDAG), N. Gordon (MDAG), L. Clark (EGLE), M. Dolehanty (EGLE), J, Schinderle (EGLE), S. Miller (EGLE), L. Bean (EGLE), R. Nix, F. Shadko, M. Banner, S. Frush, S. Heath, M. Hermann, C. Roosen, M. Koleszar, D. Polehanki, S. Shinks, E. Pratt, T. Eggermont, B. Turnbull, K. Heise, M. Gallegher, C. Jankowski, D. Kindig (ADS), A. Testa (ADS)

Re: An Open Letter Regarding the Arbor Hills Landfill

Dear Community Leader,

Another month has passed without a corrective action plan to address the continuing environmental compliance problems at the Arbor Hills landfill. Although the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has issued many violations to Advanced Disposal Services (ADS), they have very little leverage to force compliance when dealing with a recalcitrant company. As a result, the communities downwind of the landfill, including an Elementary School, continue to suffer from noxious odor events and unknown air emissions.

The downwind communities have heard countless promises from the numerous management teams that have operated the Arbor Hills Landfill over the past several years. Every new management team apologizes for the past and promises that things will change, but conditions have not improved. The current management team doesn’t even attempt to communicate with the community.

The Conservancy Initiative again requests the Attorney General’s office take legal actions to force the operators of the landfill to accept the corrective actions developed by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and impose penalties commensurate with the many years of noncompliance. Immediate actions are required as the Waste Management / Advanced Disposal Services merger is nearing completion. The Conservancy Initiative fears completion of this merger before the enforcement actions are finalized would present a new complication.

To help illustrate the continuing problem, and to arm community leaders with data to address the problem, The Conservancy Initiative (TCI) will continue to publish periodic reports detailing the landfill’s odor statistics.  Additional statistics are available at https://www.ConservancyInitiative.org.

February 2020 Metrics 

February 2020 was more of the same. Concerned residents submitted 200 valid odor complaints. (200 is actually a low month!) The complaints were submitted by 118 unique email addresses which means most did not submit multiple complaints.  There were 9 complaints submitted from the Ridge Wood Elementary School, 4 days with 15 or more complaints and 6 days where no complaints were submitted.

Data is scrubbed to remove invalid complaints (this is rare), multiple complaints made from the same household on the same day, and complaints that can be attributed to other sources (e.g., Consumers Energy). The table above shows a large percentage of complainants only make one complaint per month

The number of odor complaints is trending up even after significant investments have been made at the landfill. Pdf version

Problematic days have been conservatively defined as days when 15 or more residents submit a valid odor complaint. Pdf version

Problematic days are trending up!

Please contact The Conservancy Initiative if you have any questions or would like a detailed review of this data.

Respectfully,

The Conservancy Initiative

ddrinan@TheConservancyInitiative.org

EGLE Annual Landfill Report and Emission Test Reports for Flares and Turbine #4

Several new reports with information related to the Arbor Hills Landfill recently became available on the State of Michigan Environmental, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Website. Although there is no unexpected information contained in these reports, The Conservancy Initiative believes all relevant information should be made available to residents.

EGLE Releases Annual Solid Waste Report

EGLE recently released its 24th annual solid waste report. This report is issued annually and details waste produced by county and waste accepted by each landfill in the state.  Here are the key items in the report:

• Arbor Hills Landfill capacity is estimated at 8 years (page 23 of the 2019 report). The Conservancy Initiative is attempting to verify this estimate.

• More than 85% of the waste accepted at Arbor Hills originates outside of Washtenaw County. This begs the question - will Washtenaw County need a landfill when Arbor Hills’ capacity is expended.

• Arbor Hills Landfill is not accepting any waste from Canada (page 28).

Review the report and past years’ reports here.

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Emission Testing

Arbor Hills Energy (also known as Fortistar) commissioned emission testing on the outlet of the Turbine #4. The testing is required by the landfill’s Clean Air Act Renewable Operating Permit.  As expected, Arbor Hills Energy failed the test and continues to exceed their allow permit limits for SO2 emissions.

                                               Test Results                        Permit Limit

SO2 emissions (lbs SO2/MWhr)              2.16                                      0.9

Note -  1) SO2 permit limit for turbine #4 is based on MWhr of power produced in the turbine.

2) Emission testing for turbines #1, #2, #3 was last conducted in October 2018. The testing showed SO2 limits were being exceeded.

3) Arbor Hills Energy has been out of compliance with SO2 emissions since at least May of 2015.

The latest emission test report is available here.

Flare Performance Test Report

Advanced Disposal is responsible for the 3 permitted flares at the landfill.  Advanced Disposal commissioned performance testing on the two enclosed flares in December 2019. The Conservancy Initiative believes the two enclosed flares were recently refurbished (we are currently verifying this information).  The testing is required by the landfill’s Clean Air Act Renewable Operating Permit to demonstrated performance with EPA standards for landfill flares (i.e. - the destruction of organic compounds, CO and NOx emission).

Both Flares passed the performance testing.  The test report is available here. Performance testing was successfully completed on the Utility Flare in April 2019. The test report is available here.

The Conservancy Initiative cautions readers that emission test reports are very detailed and can be difficult to read.  For those that are adventurous here is a link to the majority of EGLE’s publicly available documents concerning Arbor Hills. The documents include Test Reports, Violations Notices, Landfill Responses to violations, etc.

Printable Version of Post

Open Letter to Attorney General, EGLE and Community Leaders

February 3, 2020

To: D. Nessel, L. Clark (EGLE), M. Dolehanty (EGLE), J, Schinderle (EGLE), S. Miller (EGLE), L. Bean (EGLE), R. Nix, F. Shadko, M. Banner, S. Frush, S. Heath, M. Hermann, C. Roosen, M. Koleszar, D. Polehanki, S. Shinks, E. Pratt, T. Eggermont, B. Turnbull, K. Heise, M. Gallegher, C. Jankowski, D. Kindig (ADS), A. Testa (ADS)

Re: An Open Letter Regarding the Arbor Hills Landfill

Dear Community Leader,

The Conservancy Initiative (TCI) has been collecting community odor/emission complaint data submitted by local residents related to the Arbor Hills Landfill since February 2018. This data is used to alert the landfill and community leaders of issues at the landfill. Recently, TCI began publishing monthly metrics to measure the Odor Performance of the Arbor Hills Landfill. TCI believes these metrics are a valuable tool to measure the effectiveness of actions taken to correct the continuing non-compliance issues at the Arbor Hills Landfill.  TCI is interested in additional performance measurement tools (e.g., emission monitors) if and when made available by the landfill operator.

TCI encourages all community leaders to visit The Conservancy Initiative Website (https://www.ConservancyInitiative.org) for additional information.

Data is scrubbed to remove invalid complaints (this is rare), multiple complaints made from the same household on the same day, and complaints that can be attributed to other sources (e.g., Consumers Energy). The table above shows a large percentage of complainants only make one complaint per month

Odor Complaint Trend - Click Here for a pdf version

The number of odor complaints is trending up even after significant investments have been made at the landfill. Please contact The Conservancy Initiative if you have any questions or would like a detailed review of this data.

Actual Data Taken from Odor Report: January 31st Odor Event

On January 31st light winds (<5 mph) from the Southwest and an apparent problem at the landfill resulted in 50 odor complaints from residents mainly Northeast of Arbor Hills. Noxious odors were detected 2 - 3 miles away. TCI requests that landfill management take responsibility for incidents like this and inform the community of the issue, what corrective actions are planned and anticipated timing to resolve the issue.

Odor Complaints on January 31, 2020. Pins represent odor complaints received on January 31st (mainly in the evening) - Click Here for pdf version

The Conservancy Initiative’s requests - What can be done?

• EGLE is best equipped to develop corrective actions to bring the landfill into compliance. Advanced Disposal should be given a hard deadline to agree to EGLE’s corrective actions and settlement proposals. EGLE must insure any settlement contains rigorous corrective actions with timelines and stipulated penalties for non-compliance, including penalties for community odors.

• If a settlement cannot be reached the Attorney General must move forward with a lawsuit to force compliance.

• TCI believes legal actions are overdue with respect to Fortistar, who has been in willful non-compliance with SO2 emission limits since at least mid-2015.

• TCI implores Advanced Disposal to improve community relations. We ask that ADS take ownership for events like Jan 31st and communicate corrective actions.

• TCI encourages EGLE to promptly schedule community odor surveys whenever odor complaints spike, similar to January 31, and issue Violation Notices as appropriate.

• Neighboring communities to landfills should have input and decision rights into landfill placement and expansion given the impacts on neighboring communities (e.g., emissions, odors, groundwater issues, litter, noise, truck traffic, etc.)

• All community leaders should pledge to oppose any landfill expansion based on the historical non-compliance at this site.

Respectfully,

The Conservancy Initiative

https://www.ConservancyInitiative.org

Download a pdf version of this letter

The Odor Report has a new look and improved functionality!

January 23. 2020

The Odor Report has been an extremely useful tool in our fight to drive environmental regulatory compliance at the Arbor Hills landfill. The Conservancy Initiative (TCI) is committed to maintaining The Odor Report to ensure this critical tool is available for our ongoing efforts. Additionally, TCI is committed to ensuring that your donation money goes far. Towards this end, the website has been updated with a slightly new look along with some functional and security enhancements based on user feedback over the past couple of years.

The new website is www.tciodorreport.com. The current website (www.theodorreport.com) will continue to function by automatically redirecting to the new website. As a result, we don’t anticipate any disruption to our user community. This transition will occur in the next 24-48 hours. Again, we don’t anticipate any disruption to the user’s ability to report odors during this transition. All the data from the current system will be saved for reporting purposes before the transition. 

The new application provides savings of nearly 97% every year over the current hosting service. TCI will invest the savings towards additional efforts to bring the landfill in to environmental compliance. 

Here is what’s changed:

• The drop-down lists for Odor Scale and Odor Duration fields have been updated

• A Captcha verification has been added before submission to eliminate malicious bot submissions

• The confirmation emails to the submitter have been eliminated; less email clutter

• The option to request someone to contact you has been removed

• User accounts have been removed. One less user name/password to remember 

 Here is what remains the same:

• You can continue to submit an odor report without logging in

• You can choose to remain anonymous while submitting your odor report

• You will see the confirmation page after submission that shows how many odor reports have been submitted so far today, very similar to the current confirmation page

• Odor complaint is immediately sent to the relevant authorities 

If you have any feedback or issues while using the new website, please send a note to info@theconservancyinitiative.org so we can take action. Thank you for your support. 

Sincerely,

The Conservancy Initiative Team

The Conservancy Initiative Survey

Happy New Year to you all!

The Conservancy initiative is looking to partner better with its supporters in 2020 and focus on the issues that matter most to this community. Please click the link below to complete a short survey. This 10 question survey is completely anonymous (unless you provide your information at the end) and should take about 3-5 minutes to complete. You can do this in a snap from your mobile phone. 

To avoid trolls submitting inaccurate information, we are not going to post this link on NextDoor. However, please feel free to share this link with your friends and neighbors.

https://tinyurl.com/TCISurvey2020

Regards,TCI Team

Fortistar Violation Response & New Landfill General Manager

Northville - January 9, 2020

Fortistar Responds to Violation Notice by Taking Issue with the EGLE Inspection Process

In early December 2019 the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) issued a  Violation Notice to Fortistar Methane (also known as Arbor Hills Energy) - see prior posting for details. Fortistar owns and operates the “landfill gas to energy plant” at Arbor Hills and has been continuously exceeding the allowable level of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) emissions since mid-2015. The Violation Notice continues to address the same issues identified in a significant Violation Notice issued on February 1, 2019 which have not been corrected.

This week Fortistar used an attorney (Matthew B. Eugster of VARNUM – Attorneys at Law) to submit a response to the December Violation Notice which did not address the issues identified by EGLE but instead took issue with EGLE’s inspection process.  

A company committed to environmental compliance should be able to correct all the cited violations. The most significant violation involves excess SO2 emissions which have continuously exceeded allowable limits since May 2015.  A competitor’s landfill in Riverview MI corrected a similar violation by cooperating with EGLE, installing equipment to safely remove sulfur from the landfill gas, and obtaining a new permit.   Other violations include knowingly venting odorous gases directly to the atmosphere (they should be routed to a flare) and the unpermitted combustion of diesel fuel.

The Conservancy Initiative believes Fortistar’s response is unacceptable and seems to demonstrate a company that is not committed to sustainability or in becoming a respected member of the community.

Advanced Disposal Service Appoints a New Landfill General Manager

The new landfill General Manager, Don Klindig, is now on-site. The Conservancy Initiative optimistically wishes Mr. Klindig every success in bringing the Arbor Hills Landfill into compliance with all applicable environmental regulations and ensuring a sustainable community for those impacted by the Arbor Hills Landfill.

January 4, 2020 - Update

Northville - January 4, 2020

State of Michigan Environmental News - Arbor Hills Landfill

The Conservancy Initiative has received some feedback that our letter writing is getting some attention in Lansing, but to date, we have not received a formal response.  The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), as well as the Attorney General and Governor, are currently feeling pressure from the local media and citizens over the “Green Ooze” found on I696 during the holidays. There have been some interesting quotes in the news recently.

Attorney General Dana Nessel pledged Monday that her "department will do everything in our power" to help the Whitmer administration and is "creating a Criminal Unit that will focus specifically on environmental prosecutions." https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/12/30/whitmer-considers-legal-action-contaminated-ooze/2777108001/ 

A Quote from Governor Whitmer, "...Today I also directed EGLE to conduct a formal review of its pollution inspection procedures to strengthen enforcement and accountability." https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/12/31/michigan-epa-march-ooze-sites-risk-spreading-pollution-low/2777313001/

The Conservancy Initiative believes that now is an excellent time to reach out to our elected officials in Lansing.  We have pre-addressed postcards available to share your thoughts with the Governor and/or the Attorney General.  To obtain pre-addressed postcards, please contact The Conservancy Initiative at mailto:info@theconservancyinitiative.org

Although the “Green Ooze” makes good TV and photos, the invisible air emissions from Arbor Hills pose a much greater risk, and Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) is a very profitable company as opposed to the defunct company responsible for the “Green Ooze”.  ADS must be held accountable for their issues before they merge with Waste Management. 

November 2019 Odor Violations

The community observed and submitted over 1,100 odor complaints in November which prompted EGLE to conduct two community odor assessments.  Violations notices were issued on both occasions.  ADS’s response to the violations did not reveal a company that is committed to solving the problem. Their response documented very few actions taken and made no significant commitments for future improvements. Below is a review of the ADS response, and a chart showing odor complaints and ADS’s actions is attached.

• ADS acknowledged low level gas odors.

  TCI Comment: LOW LEVEL??; over 1,100 complaints! Odors were observed from as far away as downtown Northville, Novi, and Plymouth. Even landfill friendly officials from Salem Township conceded they observed terrible odors in downtown Northville.

• ADS could not determine the time and duration of the odor violations.

  TCI Comment: TRY HARDER, look at the data!

• The first corrective action was taken on Nov 15th.  ADS worked until Midnight.

  TCI Comment: Violations were issued on 11/2 and 11/19; odors began 10/22. Was anything done before 11/15?

• On 11/25 ADS hired a contractor to lay down additional cover.

  TCI Comment: This was one month after the odors began.

• Additional remedies taken were on-going actions.

  TCI Comment: Nothing new was implemented to correct these odors.

• ADS’s proposed actions make no commitment and propose no timetable for completion.

  TCI Comment: ADS “may do something.”  This may be ADS’s weakest proposed corrective actions ever.

• ADS claims they are committed to minimizing off-site odors and in the same paragraph states that periodic odors are unavoidable.

• TCI Comment: This doesn’t sound like much of a commitment.

TCI Summary Comment: ADS’s response is completely UNACCEPTABLE!!!

December 2019 Odor Complaint Scorecards

The updated odor complaint scorecard data is available on The Conservancy Initiative website.  The trend for odor complaints continues to increase.

New Violation Notice for Fortistar and Advance Disposal Responds to Odor Violations

Northville - December 11, 2019

Earlier this week the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) issued another Violation Notice related to the Arbor Hills Landfill. The latest Violation Notice was issued to the landfill gas to energy plant owner/operator, Fortistar Methane, and was nearly identical to the Violation Notice issued on February 1st of this year but has not been resolved.

The most significant violations cited involve SO2 emissions exceeding permit limits (on-going since May 2015). The higher SO2 emissions trigger the need for a significant new air emission permit called a Potential for Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit. Other issues include the unpermitted use of diesel fuel to start turbines and venting of landfill gas during turbine start-up and shutdown.

The SO2 emission issues are complicated issues to resolve, but this is Fortistar’s core business. A similar SO2 emission problem was quickly resolved at the Riverview Michigan landfill (by a more honorable company) by installing process equipment to remove the sulfur compounds.  

Also this week, Advanced Disposal Service (ADS) responded to recent violation notices for community odors. It is the opinion of The Conservancy Initiative that the ADS response is not a serious response.

When reading ADS response, it is important to know that odor complaints were being received from 10/22 until at least 11/24 every day the wind was blowing towards Northville. According to the ADS response, there were no actions taken to address odors for almost one month, ADS did not report a cause for the odors or make any commitment for corrective actions. ADS does warn EGLE that occasional odors are beyond their control (which is a total disregard for regulations).

What Can You Do to Help?

The Conservancy Initiative is trying hard to elevate the landfill compliance issues. If you haven’t already contacted the Attorney General and Governor please consider completing a postcard (or two) or a letter in the near future. To obtain self-addressed postcards to our Governor and Attorney General please see the posting below or contact The Conservancy Initiative at Salemtownshipdump@gmail.com.

All recent violation notices and responses can be found HERE. (Warning the list is long).

Postcard Writing Campaign - Advanced Disposal Arbor Hills Landfill

Northville Township - December 11, 2019

Thank you to everyone who picked-up and helped distribute postcards for our Postcard Writing Campaign.

We are very much encouraged by the positive response to date.

 If you still would like to participate, it’s not too late; The Conservancy Initiative will be handing out postcards just before and during the next regular meeting of the CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF NORTHVILLE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

 Our next distribution of Postcards is as follows:

 Time: Thursday December 12th – 6:45 to 8:00 pm

 Location: Northville Township Office (Inside the Building)

44405 Six Mile Road

Northville, MI 48168

As previously noted, The Conservancy Initiative believes our best hope to improve the compliance record of the Advanced Disposal Arbor Hills Landfill is for our Attorney General and Governor to get involved. We also believe that Governor Gretchen Whitmer needs to be made aware of the ever-increasing negative impact that the landfill is having on the quality of life of so many individuals.

We continue to encourage you to drop by and pick-up postcards for yourself, and for your distribution to similarly minded individuals.

 We thank you in advance for your continued willingness to participate in this campaign.

Postcard Writing Campaign - Advanced Disposal Arbor Hills Landfill

Northville Township  - December 2019

The Conservancy Initiative believes our best hope to improve the compliance record of the Advanced Disposal Arbor Hills Landfill is for our Attorney General and Governor to get involved. We have reached out to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to request her office to begin legal actions to compel compliance at the landfill. We also believe that Governor Gretchen Whitmer needs to be made aware of the ever-increasing negative impact that the landfill is having on the quality of life of so many individuals.

Therefore, as part of our effort to highlight ongoing issues/concerns to both the Attorney General and the Governor, we are rolling out a “Postcard Writing Campaign.”

Pre-printed/addressed postcards (addressed to either the Attorney General or the Governor), are available for your use, to directly share the negative impact that the Advanced Disposal Arbor Hills Landfill is having on you, your family or your business. We are hopeful that your candid comments (similar to those regularly shared on the ‘Odor Report’ and social media) will leave a meaningful impact on the Attorney General and the Governor. Also, if your children are of writing age (and with your permission) we encourage their participation as well. In mailing the postcard, you can choose to remain anonymous (by signing only your first name and location e.g. – Northville Township) or supply your complete name and address. Please affix a standard US Postal stamp before mailing.

For our initial Postcard Distribution, postcards will be available for pick-up as follows:

Times:

Friday, December 6th - 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Saturday, December 7th - 8:00 am to 11:00 am

Location:

Northville Township Office Parking Lot

44405 Six Mile Road

Northville, MI 48168

We strongly encourage you to drop by and pick-up Postcards for yourself and for your distribution to similarly minded individuals.

We thank you in advance for your willingness to participate in this campaign – our collective voices will prove difficult to ignore.

Carpe Diem – “Seize the Day”

Arbor Hills Landfill Receives Over 1,125 Odor Complaints during November

EGLE Issues the Second Violation Notice during November

Northville - December 2, 2019

November Odor Complaints and Violation Notices

November 2019 was a very bad month for the communities downwind of the Arbor Hills Landfill. There were 1,139 odor/emission complaints received as a result of the landfill. The odor/emission complaints covered a much broader territory than normal, with odor/emission complaints being received from Northville Township, Plymouth Township, Downtown Northville and even further away as low winds seemed to allow the pungent cloud to drift far and wide. The most significant number of odor complaints came during the early evening hours.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) is currently leading negotiations in an attempt to reach a settlement with the landfill owner, Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) to correct long-standing violations that have led to the continuing odor problems. The negotiations are not progressing well.  

EGLE issued another Violation Notice to ADS based on an odor surveillance conducted on November 19th. (Community residents issued over 100 odor complaints on this day alone). This is the second Rule 901 Violation (odor violation) issued by EGLE in November. A response is due by December 19th.

The Conservancy Initiative has received information that indicates that Brian Sanders, the Landfill General Manager, is leaving. Brian has only been the General Manager since the end of August and will be leaving before Christmas.  Brian was the 3rd General Manager at the landfill over the past year. Obviously, the leadership turnover is not helping an already bad situation.  We are not currently aware of who will take over as the new General Manager but we will attempt to make contact with the new General Manager as soon as he or she is named.  

The Conservancy Initiative has updated the charts on its Website and will be distributing this information to all key personnel to inform them of the terrible performance of the landfill. The odor reports provide a small window into the on-going and increasing issues with the landfill. The data does not lie - the problems are getting worse, not better. Please feel free to use this data to further our cause in any way.

Outreach to the Attorney General

The Conservancy Initiative (TCI) believes our best hope to improve the compliance records of the landfill is for the Attorney General to get involved. We have reached out to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel with a letter and through several back-channel contacts to request her office to begin legal actions to compel compliance at the landfill.

We are aware that many others may have made similar efforts. If you have made efforts to reach out to the Attorney General, the Governor or others, we would like to share your letters (with your permission) on our website as examples for others. If you have something you are willing to share, please contact ddrinan10@gmail.com. Please scrub any personal information from your documents before sharing.

Postcard Writing Campaign

We are in the process of putting together a very simple Postcard Writing Campaign as part of our effort to highlight ongoing issues/concerns to the Attorney General and the Governor. We will have more details to share later this week and will need lots of help at that time so please get your pens ready.

Public Meetings, Coffee Hours, Trustee Meetings, Board Meetings, etc.

Public forums like our State Legislator’s coffee hour or the township trustee meeting are great opportunities to let our elected officials know what our number one issue is. Remember, there is always an opportunity for anyone to get a few minutes to speak at these forums. TCI regularly attends Northville and Salem Township Trustee Meetings, Coffee hours with our State Senator and Legislator, Washtenaw County Commissioner Meetings, Democratic Party Meetings, etc; anywhere we might be able to get the ear of our elected officials to let them know the problem is not getting better.  

We encourage other individuals and/or neighborhood groups to also attend. It would be good for the elected officials to hear from more than the same few people each month.

New Summary Update Document from EGLE

Compliance Negotiations Are Continuing

Northville - November 21, 2019

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) published a summary update today. Links to all the EGLE summary updates are included below.

The update lists several ways to make a complaint. The Preferred place to report odor issues was not listed but continues to be The Odor Report. Odor issues reported on this site are immediately transmitted to Landfill Personnel, EGLE Inspectors, Northville Township Personnel, The Conservancy, local politicians, etc. Please don’t make reports directly on the Advanced Disposal Website as the Website has not been updated in over a year, and the complaint by-passes The Conservancy Initiative’s database.

Summary Reports

NEW!! July 2019 - October 2019 Summary NEW!!

March 2019 - June 2019 Summary

September 2018 - February 2019 Summary

January 2018 - April 2018 Summary

September 2017 - November 2017 Summary

Landfill Background

Advanced Disposal Receives Violation Notice for Continuing Community Odors

EGLE RESPONDS TO ODOR COMPLAINTS WITH SUNDAY ODOR SURVEILLANCE

There have been over 350 community odor complaints received during the first 12 days of November and this is after Advanced Disposal Service completed repairs to the West Haul Road drain and installation of a new leachate sump system at TS01. These projects were promised to correct the majority of the odor problems.

We learned today, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) issued another Violation Notice to Advanced Disposal for continued community odors. As a direct response to the numerous odor complaints on Friday and Saturday, November 1st and 2nd, EGLE conducted neighborhood odor observations on Sunday, November 3rd which resulted in the violation being issued today.

EGLE also sent an email to the landfill management earlier today requesting the landfill update the community on actions it taking to correct the odor issues. The email referenced frequently complaints from parents with school-age children at Ridgewood Elementary. EGLE states these complainant’s concerns deserve and require a response and directed ADS to update the community on actions being taken to correct the odors. It is unclear how these updates will be received. The Conservancy Initiative will pass along any pertinent information we receive from the landfill.

The Violation Notice is attached. The following post is a pictorial representation of odor complaints received on Friday, November 8th when over 100 complaints were received. These maps show how widespread the impact can be.

As always, if you think you can help our efforts in any way, please contact one of the Conservancy Initiative Directors. One of the easiest ways to help is by making a contribution. You can contribute by using this link to our PayPal account or by sending a check to P.O. Box 722, Northville, MI 48167. The Conservancy Initiative is a Michigan environmental nonprofit 501c3 corporation.

Friday, November 8th

Scroll down to see a summary of the odor complaints from November 8th. The maps show the odor complaints on a map of the area broken down by time. There were 120 complaints received before midnight. The maps show how widespread the odor impact can be.

8 Odor Complaints were made in the morning of Friday, November 8th …

22 Odor Complaints were received between 3 - 7 PM as residents returned home to enjoy a Friday evening

41 Complaints were received from 7 - 9 PM as the barometric pressure dropped and the wind was dead calm

49 more complaints were received before Friday evening ended. ADS never contacted any township leadership to explain their actions.

Arbor Hills Landfill - Community Odor Scorecard - October 2019

A Review of October Odor Complaint Data

Northville, MI - November 7, 2019

The Conservancy Initiative has compiled the odor complaint information for October 2019 and has updated the charts on our Website.

A Word about the Data

We have made every attempt to “scrub the data” by removing the following:

·         Complaints made by internet trolls - believe it or not, on rare occasions, this has occurred

·         Complaints attributed to other sources - e.g. the odor complaints attributed to “Consumers Energy” (natural gas venting) in early October 2019

·         Multiple complaints from the same address on the same day    Valid complaints are limited to one per household per day

When Making a Complaint

Advanced Disposal definitely uses the odor complaints to track down issues. They have been known to perform drive-by visits at many of the complaint sites as part of their odor investigation process. The most important information in the odor report is the time and location of the odor and the odor characteristics if possible (smells like trash, gassy smell, etc.). Symptoms and odor strength are really more of a personal reaction (everyone will be different) and they necessarily won’t help ADS eliminate the odor.

This Month’s Graphs

·         Trend of Monthly Complaints - Note the trend is actually increasing

·         Year to Year Comparison of Monthly Data

·         # of Days with 10 or more / 15 or more complaints - This graph makes the assumption if 10 or 15 households are making a complaint there must be a problem. This graph is concerning, as the last 3 months are trending badly in the wrong direction

·         # of Days with Zero Complaints - This graph shows that complaints are only being made when odors are being detected

Final Thought

If you think you can help our efforts in any way, please contact one of the Conservancy Initiative Directors. One of the easiest ways to help is by making a contribution. You can contribute by using this link to our PayPal account or by sending a check to P.O. Box 722, Northville, MI 48167. The Conservancy Initiative is a Michigan environmental nonprofit 501c3 corporation.

Consumers Energy to Vent Equipment at Northville Compressor Station

The Conservancy Initiative has been asked to distribute the following information.

Consumers Energy has notified Northville Township they will be venting non-odorized gas at the Northville Compressor station, located at 4990 Napier Rd, on 11/6/19 from noon to 3 pm.  The vent is to purge the air from the piping inside the compressor station.  The purging should last only 15 minutes and there may be a loud sound similar to a jet engine.  There is no public safety concern.

Questions or concerns should be directed to :

Stephanie Roehl Blatt, Consumers Energy, Community Affairs Manager

O- (734) 513-6200 | M- (313) 402-7011 | Stephanie.roehl@cmsenergy.com

Landfill Odors - November 5th

Update on This Weekend’s Odor Issues

Northville - November 5, 2019

Landfill Odors have been terrible over the weekend. There were well over 100 odor complaints received the past several days, some from as far away as Beck and 10 Mile Road area. The Conservancy Initiative contacted both Advanced Disposal Service (ADS) and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to make sure the odors were being addressed. Here is a summary of what we learned.

Executive Summary

·         As of 5 PM on Tuesday, 11/5, ADS completed the installation of a new horizontal gas well in the northeast section of the landfill and began to establish a vacuum (pull gas through the well). ADS should be able to install a leachate sump in the well and ramp up the vacuum (pull more gas) to normal operating levels tomorrow. ADS believes there should be an immediate improvement in odors and is confident these actions will remedy the increased odors once normal vacuum levels are achieved.

Details

·         ADS found a gas well that had lost vacuum (i.e. - no gas was being removed) in the northeast section of the landfill while investigating odor complaints this weekend. Heavy odors and vapors venting (confirmed visually via bubbling in rain puddles) were present in the area of the failed well. ADS attempted to make a temporary fix to re-establish vacuum that obviously failed.

·         EGLE performed neighborhood inspections on Sunday and detected odors. It is unclear if the odors detected on Sunday were at a level that will result in a Violation Notice. Sunday was the best day (least odors) of the weekend with only 10 odor complaints. There were approximately 40 on Saturday and 46 on Monday.

·         During recent inspections, EGLE has found multiple vents of fugitive gas emission through the surface of the landfill which are big contributors to odors. The gas vents and the well failures may be caused because leachate (water) is not being adequately removed from the landfill. EGLE recently issued the second violation notice in 2019 (the first was in March 2019) which alleges leachate is not being adequately removed from the landfill. ADS must respond to this Violation Notices later this month.  

·         On Tuesday morning, ADS opened up a 200-foot long trench in the landfill to allow the installation of a new horizontal well. Odors from this open trench are not surprising and probably expected (although still a potential violation of Michigan Regulations and probably EPA landfill regulations).

·         The Conservancy Initiative implored ADS that communication with the community would be helpful. We will continue to work for more open communications with the landfill.  

EPA’s National Enforcement Investigation Center Team on Site

EPA Mobile Monitoring Vehicle Samples Landfill Emissions in Neighborhoods

Northville - November 1

The Conservancy Initiative recently learned the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has been working with the USEPA National Enforcement Investigations Center (NEIC) to study air emssions from the landfill.   

Last week (10/22 - 10/25) a team from NEIC brought a mobile monitoring vehicle to sample air emssions in and around the landfill. The EPA has successfully used this technology to identify and quantify specific emission sources at other problematic sites and negotiate emission reductions.  The technology combines mobile sampling/analysis with weather data to model emission sources and produce polar plots of the emission plume. If you are interested, take a look at these links for additional information related to GMAP Field Monitoring.  NEIC Advanced Monitoring - GMAP Fact Sheet (PDF)  /  Field Use of Air Monitoring Technologies (PDF) or google NEIC GMAP.

Crew from USEPA and EGLE inspecting mobile monitoring vehicle. This vehicle is equipped with analyzers for methane; total volatile organics compounds (VOCs); H2S; and meteorological and global positioning (GPS) equipment.

Although the weather was less than ideal last week, with high winds and rain at the beginning of the week, and there were some technical issues with the equipment, the GMAP crew was able to successfully conduct sampling at the landfill, around the landfill perimeter and in some of the neighborhoods that were experiencing odor problems. The sampling crew verbally reported odors and methane where detected while sampling in the neighborhoods, but it is going to take a while before the data can be processed into a report.

The expectation is that the EPA mobile sampling data will provide data to reinforce the odor complaints which were submitted last week. Data collected including maps generated of the odor/emission plume from the landfill should support EGLE’s efforts to drive compliance at the landfill.  

Even though there is no data to report at this time, we wanted to share this information as just one example of the on-going efforts to improve conditions downwind of the landfill. Although we do not have a projected completion date for a final report, we are confident EGLE staff will publish the final report from the mobile sampling team as soon as they receive it.  

Advanced Disposal Agrees to Install an Air Monitor at/near Ridgewood Elementary as Part of Settlement of September 2016 Violations

More Settlement Actions are Anticipated

Northville - October 24, 2019

The following is a summary of the consent agreement prepared by The Conservancy Initiative for the benefit of their constituents.

Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have finalized a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO)[1] to resolve the Findings of Violations (FOV) issued to Advanced Disposal by the USEPA on September 29, 2016[2]. The highlights of the CAFO include a $50,000 civil penalty and a requirement to install a hydrogen sulfide monitor (H2S) at/near Ridgewood Elementary.

It is important to note that this only a settlement of the September 29, 2016 FOV issued to ADS. BFI, who owned the landfill gas collection and control system in 2016, previously paid a penalty of $406,000 for their portion of the violations issued on this date and Arbor Hills Energy (Fortistar - owner of gas to energy plant) has not yet reached a settlement. In addition, both ADS and Fortistar are the subjects of escalated enforcement actions to resolve current compliance issues with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE previously MDEQ). [3],[4],[5]  The EGLE enforcement actions are expected to address current odor issues.  

Below is a summary of the actions required by the CAFO. Unfortunately, the CAFO was negotiated without any local input and did not include a timetable for completion. Northville Township Supervisor, Bob Nix, has contacted Nathan Frank, USEPA, Chief, Air Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Section. Mr. Frank has confirmed that ADS committed to completing all work by September 26, 2020 and he expects work will be done sooner.

Actions already completed:

ADS has certified it is complying with the comprehensive Compliance Plan included in the May 2017 Administrative Consent Order. The Compliance Plan required a list of landfill improvements (detailed in the CAFO) including installation of the new flare, significant upgrades to the landfill gas collection and control (GCCS) system, installation of a new leachate tank, upgrades to the leachate collection system, etc.  The goal of the compliance plan was to improve the efficiency of the GCCS (i.e. - collect and control more landfill gas).

·         ADS certified it spent in excess of $5 million on these actions and the capture efficiency of the GCCS has improved by at least 20%

Actions to be completed

·         Establish odor screen vegetation on the northern 20 acres located near Napier Road. Estimated cost - $100,000.

·         Evaluate the relationship between the odor monitoring conducted from 2017 through 2019 and odor complaints. The study will include the development of quantitative methods using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to predict odors. Estimated cost - $70,000.

·         Pay a civil penalty of $50,000.

Mitigation Projects - these projects are used to off-set potential civil penalties (i.e. the penalty would have been greater if these projects were not agreed to).

·         ADS must modify the landfill GCCS by installing at least 30 new gas extraction wells. The project will be coordinated with a potential Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Plant at the landfill. Estimated cost - $900,000

Note - the mention of a potential Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Plant is significant. A RNG plant would remove impurities and concentrate the methane in the landfill gas to a point where the gas can be used as natural gas either via pipeline distribution or used directly at the facility as vehicle fuel. A RNG plant would presumably eliminate the majority of the SO2 emission at the site. The CAFO does not guarantee the RNG plant, as Fortistar will need to agree to significant investment for a RNG plant to become certain. We should learn more when Fortistar reaches a settlement with USEPA/EGLE.

·         ADS must install a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) monitor at or near the Ridgewood Elementary School site. The operation of the monitor must: continue for at least 5 years; be performed by a third party; and have real time monitoring results that are publicly available. Estimated cost $10,000.

The H2S monitor began as a grass roots effort at Ridgewood Elementary. When air quality concerns arose due to landfill odors, a group of Ridgewood Elementary parents sought answers out of concern for their children. When satisfactory answers were not received, the parents created a petition requesting air quality monitoring equipment be installed at or near the school. The parents went door to door in the community, got signatures at town hall meetings, and even at their children’s after school events.  The parents were determined to be the voice of their children and thankful all that hard work paid off.

Background

·         In 2016 the USEPA performed air quality testing in the area and performed an inspection of the Arbor Hills site in response to numerous odor complaints from the community. The USEPA issued a Findings of Violation (FOV) to Advanced Disposal (landfill owner), BFI (GCCS owner) and Arbor Hills Energy or Fortistar (Gas to Energy Plant Owner) on September 26, 2016[6].

·         BFI transferred ownership of the GCCS in February 2017 to Advanced Disposal Services and settled their FOV by paying a $406,000 civil penalty.[7]

·         In 2017, Advanced Disposal entered into an administrative consent order[8] with the USEPA. The consent order contained a corrective action plant which was targeted at improving the efficiency of the GCCS (i.e. - capture and control more landfill gas).

·         The requirements of the corrective action plan have been implemented and GCCS efficiency has improved by at least 20%.

·         Completion of the items included in the CAFO will settle Advanced Disposal’s September 29, 2016 FOV.

·         THIS DOES NOT SETTLE THE ENFORCEMENT ACTION BEING LED BY THE EGLE. NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN EGLE AND ADVANCED DISPOSAL ARE ON-GOING. THE COMPLIANCE PLAN ASSOCIATED WITH EGLE’S SETTLEMENT IS CRITICAL AS IT IS FOCUSED ON CURRENT ODOR ISSUES.

·         Fortistar must still reach a settlement with USEPA to close their September 29, 2016 FOV as well as EGLE Enforcement Actions resulting from SO2 emission violations.

[1] Advanced Disposal Services, Consent Agreement and Final Order, Docket CAA-05-2019-0038

[2] Advanced Disposal Services, Finding of Violations, EPA-5-16-MI-10, September 29, 2016

[3] DEQ Enforcement Notice to Advanced Disposal Services, January 24, 2019

[4] DEQ Enforcement Notice to Fortistar Methane Group, November 4, 2015

[5] DEQ Enforcement Notice to Fortistar Methane Group, April 18, 2019

[6] EPA Findings of Violations issued September 29, 2016, Advanced Disposal, BFI, Arbor Hills Energy (Fortistar)

[7] BFI Waste System of NA, Consent Agreement and Final Orders, Docket CAA-05-2018-0029, Sept 28, 2018

[8] Advanced Disposal Services, Administrative Order EPA-5-17-113(a)-MI-04, May 4, 2017