Northwest Wayne News

Northville Township - MI issued the following announcement on March 11.

Arbor Hills Landfill in Salem Township has agreed to make 17 improvements, including using a drone to measure surface emissions, to lower the odor-emitting problems that impact Northville Township, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced at Township Hall Thursday.

The improvements, along with fines that amount to $2.3 million, are spelled out in a settlement signed March 7. They are a response to complaints raised in the October 2020 lawsuit she filed in Ingham County 30th Circuit Court on behalf of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).

“Thank you to Attorney General Dana Nessel, Sen. Dayna Polehanki, Rep. Matt Koleszar and The Conservancy Initiative for their efforts in bringing about this resolution to the EGLE lawsuit,” Supervisor Mark J. Abbo said. “Progress was made today in our expectations of a safer environment for our community.”

The improvements include:

• Constructing and operating a household hazardous waste collection facility in the next 300 days. It will be available to residents of Northville Township and the City of Northville for free for 10 years. Arbor Hills will pay Washtenaw County $75,000 each year to help staff it.
• Creating a $799,200 perimeter monitoring station complete with a meteorological tower to identify concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and methane.
• Adopting a leachate management plan.
• Mandatory month checks of its flare system, running each flare separately for at least an hour.
• Inspecting the gas wells twice a month.
• Launching a public website at www.arborhillsmonitoring.com to provide real-time information to the public about landfill conditions.
• Planting a vegetative buffer of at least $100,000 to reduce the transport of particulate matter and odors from the composting facility and landfill. It will include hundreds of spruce trees, which will vary between 8-feet to10-feet tall.
• Arbor Hills must pay a $355,109 civil fine to EGLE within 30 days.

Liesl Clark, Director of EGLE, personally thanked Northville Township residents. “The residents of this community deserve a big share of the credit for today’s important step forward,” she said. “They made hundreds of odor complaints which got our attention and spurred our numerous odor evaluations. They kept a consistent spotlight on this issue and that always makes a difference.” 

Rep. Koleszar recounted stories of concerned citizens. So did Sen. Polehanki, who added, “Today is a very good day in Northville Township.”

Supervisor Abbo pointed out it was a group effort. “Much gratitude to everyone who worked so hard on this matter,” he said. “Northville Township will breathe easier because of your efforts.”

The court will retain jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the consent judgement.

Northville Township has a separate lawsuit it filed in November 2021 independent from the State’s efforts. The Township complaint included claims against Arbor Hills Landfill for breach of contract, public nuisance, private nuisance, trespass, negligence and seeks injunctive relief from the court. This consent judgement has no impact on the Township’s case.

"This settlement helps to address the years of health and safety concerns community members felt were going ignored," Attorney General Nessel said. "I appreciate the collaborative work done between my office and EGLE to reach this point. This is a comprehensive agreement with the landfill's new ownership to remedy outstanding issues for those who live and work in the surrounding area." 

To read more about Thursday’s announcement, visit https://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-359--578549--,00.html. 

Original source can be found here.