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Northville Township has received inquiries from residents in the Northville Ridge subdivision concerning the noise from the landfill property. The landfill was contacted and has informed the Township they are performing maintenance, cleaning out the large ponds on the property. The work involves the use of vacuum trucks and will be continuing on a Monday through Friday schedule and may last for two months, although not continuously.
There have been several alarming events at the Arbor Hills Landfill (AHL) which The Conservancy Initiative (TCI)[1] believes are a threat to the long-term health of our area’s only cold-water stream, Johnson Creek. The most alarming event involves the discharge of PFAS contaminated water for over a year. This questionable discharge should have been addressed when the stormwater pond was sampled in April 2020, however, TCI only became aware of it over a year later. We immediately notified the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Jackson District Office. Now, two weeks after making our notification, we have been alert that EGLE is in the process of issuing a violation notice, but we are not aware of any responses taken by AHL.
In April 2020, Arbor Hills Landfill sampled the main stormwater detention pond for PFAS contamination as part of their investigation into PFAS groundwater contamination at the landfill. The samples revealed up to 33 times the allowable level of Perfluorooctane suffonate (PFOS)[1]. This material has been allowed to discharge directly into Johnson Creek and potentially may be continuing today.
[GFL is] …reaching out to inform the group that a DTE forced plant outage is scheduled for the weekend of April 17 through April 19. The reason for the plant outage is that DTE needs to conduct line maintenance. All flares onsite will be in operation to accommodate gas during this period. Please note, the timeframe noted was given to Arbor Hills by Fortistar Methane Group and is an estimate. Arbor Hills will remain in close contact with Fortistar plant operators and their management team throughout this duration. The plant will resume operation once clearance is given from DTE.
On Monday, April 5, 2021, construction will begin on our leachate tank expansion project located on the southeast side of the property. The construction is estimated to be from April 5, 2021, to April 9, 2021. Although we do not foresee any odor associated with this project, we have developed a contingency plan to address any issues. – Green for Life
A previous article discussed Surface Emission Monitoring (SEM). All landfills are required to conduct SEMs of the entire landfill on a quarterly basis to identify potential areas of landfill gas leaks. Corrective areas must be taken on a progressive basis until the excess emissions are corrected.
EGLE recently published a video explaining how SEM surveys are performed. We wanted to share the video.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) released its annual Report of Solid Waste Landfilled in Michigan covering the 2020 fiscal year. The current report and reports from past years are available on the EGLE website <CLICK HERE>. Our best estimate of the landfill life is 6 – 7 years based on data submitted by the landfill to EGLE over the past several years.
All large landfills are required to perform Surface Emission Monitoring (SEM) surveys on a quarterly basis to locate landfill gas venting from the landfill. EGLE Air Quality Division recently sent all Michigan landfills a letter announcing they will be conducting compliance (i.e. – violations may be issued if necessary) to verify the quality of the SEMs being conducted. The Conservancy Initiative applauds the Air Quality Division for taking this initiative and believes these more aggressive enforcement measures will pay dividends.
Green for Life (GFL), the new owner of the Arbor Hills Landfill, has begun operating the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) air monitoring station at Ridge Wood Elementary School. The air monitoring station is part of an agreement between the previous landfill owner, Advanced Disposal Services, and the USEPA to settle compliance violations cited in 2016. The air monitoring station will be operated by a third-party firm (Barr Engineering) for at least 5 years.
Most people are unaware the Arbor Hills landfill has an on-site wastewater treatment plant and a permit that allows the discharge of up to 100,000 gallons per day of “treated” groundwater into the region’s only cold-water trout stream, Johnson Creek, from December 1st through April 30th each year. The Conservancy Initiative has become aware that Arbor Hills has violated the allowable limits for ammonia as nitrogen being discharged. The exceedances are particularly troubling as the water being discharged is accumulated in two large ponds for up to a year before being discharged. These are the same ponds that were inadvertently discharged in violation of the permit in July 2020.
Arbor Hills Energy (a.k.a. Fortistar) was issued a Violation Notice on December 2, 2020, for exceeding the allowable sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rate from one of the electric generating turbines at its facility. Arbor Hills Energy has consistently failed the required periodic emissions testing since 2015 but has not initiated steps to lower SO2 emissions.
Two storm water ponds were impacted by PFAS chemicals from fire suppression chemicals used during a fire at the Arbor Hills Landfill site in 2016. The Conservancy Initiative has learned the PFAS contaminated water has not been addressed and is requesting EGLE to set a deadline for Arbor HIlls to properly remediate the ponds.
GFL Environmental took ownership of the Arbor Hills Landfill on October 30th as part of the Waste Management acquisition of Advanced Disposal Services. This past week, The Conservancy Initiative obtained copies of letters GFL sent to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in response to Violation Notices issued to Advanced Disposal Services for malfunctions to the flare system in late September. This is our first experience with GFL.
Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel announced her office had filed a lawsuit against Advanced Disposal Services (ADS), the owner and operator of the Arbor Hills Landfill, for failing to comply with State and Federal Regulations and endangering the public health, safety, and welfare of residents living in the shadow of the massive landfill. The announcement was made at the Northville Township Community Park Pavilion near 5 Mile and Beck with the landfill as a backdrop.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) issued two new Violations Notices to Advanced Disposal Services this week. Both Violation Notices were repeat violations (i.e. – similar violations have been cited and obviously not corrected). Both Violations Notices are the result of recent malfunctions to the landfill flares which resulted in excess emissions and likely community odors.
On September 15, 2020, Northville Township Supervisor Bob Nix, accompanied by Township Treasurer, Fred Shadko, and The Conservancy Initiative President, Ralph Lassel, testified before the Michigan House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Nix stressed that the proposed house bills the committee is considering represented an opportunity to fix the problems with the current regulations and asked the legislators for their help.
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