Michigan’s Attorney General (AG), Dana Nessel, and the Director of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Liesel Clark, announced a settlement has been reached with the Arbor Hills Landfill. The settlement resolves the lawsuit between the landfill and EGLE which the AG began in October 2020. The lawsuit was brought to force the landfill to comply with state and federal regulations governing landfill operations. The landfill’s continuing non-compliant operation was resulting in excess emission and noxious odors in the communities downwind of the landfill.

The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) will be holding a virtual Town Hall to update the public on the status of PFAS contamination at the Arbor Hills Landfill on February 24th at 6:00 PM. <CLICK HERE> for townhall information.

The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) will be holding a virtual Town Hall to update the public on the status of PFAS contamination at the Arbor Hills Landfill on Thursday, February 24th at 6:00 PM. <CLICK HERE> for information on how to attend the Town Hall.

PFAS contamination at the Arbor Hills Landfill has been a complicated issue since at least 2016. The Landfill has changed ownership from Advanced Disposal Service to Green for Life (GFL) and there have been 10 – 15 representatives from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) involved with the PFAS issue. The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) will be holding a virtual Town Hall to update the public on the status of PFAS contamination at the Arbor Hills Landfill on February 24th at 6:00 PM. <CLICK HERE> for townhall information.

The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) will be holding a virtual Town Hall to update the public on the status of PFAS contamination at the Arbor Hills Landfill on February 24th at 6:00 PM. <CLICK HERE> for townhall information. The Conservancy Initiative as well as leaders from Northville Township, the City of Northville, and Plymouth Township encourage residents to attend this informational meeting. A significant online turnout at this townhall is important to keep the focus on the Arbor Hills Landfill’s PFAS contamination that threatens Johnson Creek and our community. EGLE will also have a representative from the Air Quality Division (AQD) and may provide an update on the ongoing enforcement actions being led by the Michigan Attorney General. The Conservancy Initiative believes a settlement in this lawsuit may be near.

Arbor Hills is currently covered by a General Stormwater Permit which does not require the stormwater effluent to be sampled. The General Stormwater Permit is currently in the process of being renewed and EGLE recently opened a period for public comments on the renewal of the General Stormwater Permit. The Conservancy Initiative believes a General Stormwater Permit, which does not contain requirements to periodically sample, analyze, and report on the quality of the stormwater effluent, is not appropriate for the Arbor Hills Landfill given the stormwater from the site is exceeding water quality standards for PFOS* concentration.

This past week Opal Fuels, LLC (a Fortistar Company) and Green for Life both announced they had entered into a joint venture agreement to develop, construct and operate a Renewable Natural Gas production facility at the Arbor Hills Landfill. Opal Fuels will be responsible for the construction and operation of the facility. The facility will produce 2 million MMBTU of pipeline quality RNG per year and will be one of the largest RNG facilities in the nation.

Since Green for Life took ownership of the Arbor Hills Landfill in late 2020, 20% to 25% of the trash being buried at Arbor Hills originates in Canada.

• Currently, approximately 75,000 cu yards of trash from Canada is being received per month. We estimate this is over 600 trucks per month.

• Washtenaw County, widely believed to be the most progressive county in the state, home of the University of Michigan, has become the county of choice for Ontario’s Waste

• Arbor Hills was approved by Washtenaw County to provide a final home for waste generated by Washtenaw County. Currently, Washtenaw County is contributing less than 15% of the volume at Arbor Hills.

• A potential justification for the Canadian waste is the landfill host fees. Salem Township receives approximately $2.5 million per year, and Washtenaw County receives approximately $1.0 million per year.

• In the 3 years prior to GFL, Arbor Hills accepted ZERO waste from Canada.

EGLE issued a Violation Notice to the owner of the Arbor Hills Landfill, Green for Life (GFL). The Violation Notice alleges the Flare System at the Arbor Hills Landfill has not been adequately designed and/or operated to capture and burn all the landfill gas typically produced at the landfill. EGLE believes that failing to capture and control all the gas produced likely contributed to odors detected in the downwind community.

Northville Township announced it filed a lawsuit against the Arbor Hills Landfill. The lawsuit was filed after the township was unable to negotiate a satisfactory resolution to issues that have regularly degraded the quality of life in Northville Township.

In this communication we will take a closer look at the odor complaint data to spotlight the increasing odor complaints and make sure that community leaders are aware the landfill may have a new owner but, in many ways, they are still the same old Arbor Hills. In a future communication, we will update the PFAS issues.

The Conservancy Initiative recently received data from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) which show the volume of waste being accepted from Canada dramatically increased since Green for Life (GFL) took control of the Arbor Hills Landfill in October 2020.

Data Highlights

• In the 3 years prior to GFL, Arbor Hills accepted ZERO waste from Canada.

• From April – June of 2021 (the most recent data available), 15% of the total waste volume received at Arbor Hills originated in Canada and,

• 20% of the municipal and commercial waste (typically residential like waste) originated in Canada.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Michigan Attorney General (AG) announced a $750,000 penalty and a settlement with Arbor Hills Energy (AHE) to finally settle the environmental violations alleged by the USEPA in 2016 and subsequent violations issued to AHE by EGLE from 2016 – 2020.

Arbor Hills received notification from Fortistar that DTE has asked them to halt operations until further notice. The estimated downtime is wide-ranging and can be anywhere from 8 hours to 2 days. All flares onsite will be in operation to accommodate gas during this period.

Although The Conservancy Initiative understands the road outage is the result of an act of nature and should only be temporary, we question the logic of routing the heaving truck traffic past an elementary school, utilizing a gravel road, and through residential neighborhoods when a better route is clearly available. A much better detour route would be Six Mile Road between Napier Road and Chubb Road and Chubb Road between Five Mile and Six Mile Roads.

On July 15, 2021, GFL responded to EGLE’s Violation Notice and accepted EGLE’s offer of an Administrative Consent Order to bring the unauthorized stormwater discharge into compliance. GFL has also proposed plans to begin addressing the PFAS issues at the Arbor Hills Landfill. The Water Resource Division of EGLE has agreed to hold a Townhall type event to update concerned citizens on the status of the PFAS contamination at the Arbor Hills Landfill. The logistics of the Townhall are currently being worked out.

Mark Abbo, Northville Township Supervisor, and Brian Turnbull, City of Northville Mayor have both sent letters requesting EGLE reassess the resources they have dedicated to the Arbor Hills problem and provide our community with a townhall type update. The Conservancy Initiative is extremely grateful to our local leadership, and we hope other community leaders will join Supervisor Abbo and Mayor Turnbull in calling for EGLE to step up their response to the expanding Arbor Hills’ PFAS issue.

… Gas construction at Arbor Hills is set to commence June 23, 2021. The remainder of this week will consist primarily of gas well drilling. During well drilling, in an effort to minimize odors, the contractor will be utilizing a vacuum box to capture fugitive emissions. Beginning next week, the pipe crew is scheduled to arrive to begin vacuum pipe installation. The entire construction project is anticipated to be completed by October 31, 2021.

On June 14, 2021, the Water Resource Division (WRD) of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) issued a violation (Violation Notice No VN-0011821) to Green for Life (GFL), the owner of the Arbor Hills Landfill in Salem, Michigan, for discharging PFOS[1] to Johnson Creek in concentrations above Michigan’s Water Quality Standards (WQS). The non-compliant discharge was first detected over a year ago (April 2020) but was not reported to EGLE until it was uncovered through a Freedom of Information Act Request by The Conservancy Initiative.

The Conservancy Initiative of Northville Township is announcing their support of the Township’s efforts to enforce environmental compliance at the landfill and protect Johnson Creek. Last week, the Board of Trustees authorized Supervisor Mark Abbo to file a lawsuit if Green for Life (GFL) fails to take the meaningful action they had promised in prior meetings.