Belleville City Council enters joint law suit, chips in $5,000

The Belleville city council met in special session at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, to approve joining an intergovernmental law suit against Republic Services and to chip in $5,000 to pay the legal fees, which are estimated at $45,000.
Mayor Ken Voigt said the communities of Canton, Sumpter, Romulus and Ypsilanti Township each have be asked to pay $5,000 each, with Van Buren Township paying the rest.
The special council session was held with a bare quorum of three members: Mayor Voigt, Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Bates, and Councilman Jeremiah Beebe. Councilwoman Julie Kissel and councilman Randy Priest were absent and excused.
After the vote, James Bratby the only member of the public attending the 18-minute meeting, thanked the council for supporting this litigation. He said he is part of a local group that formed about two weeks ago when members first heard of the radioactive waste heading to the hazardous waste site on the N. I-94 Service Drive in Van Buren Township.
Bratby said this litigation only covers the radioactive waste and he said the 348 or 342 classified materials that aren’t radioactive may be worse. He said when the public protested the waste coming two years ago, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers member said, “Don’t worry about this stuff,” indicating there was worse that the public didn’t know about.
He questioned why the hazardous waste is being allowed when it is next to 10% of the world’s fresh water.
Bratby said his team supports State Rep. Reggie Miller, D-Van Buren Township, who has introduced legislation to keep hazardous waste out of the state.
He said when he goes to a hotel, he pays state and local taxes for the hotel and if Rep. Miller’s legislation doesn’t work, the hazardous waste should have a local tax.
“I’d like to make pressure on this,” he said.
“I agree with you 150%,” said Mayor Voigt, noting the issue has many different aspects. He said he doesn’t know why in 1979 the existing household waste landfill was allowed to become a toxic dump.
He said it is between two metro areas and as the crow flies it is 2,000 feet from Belleville Lake, which flows out to the Great Lakes.
He said Van Buren Township gets tipping fees of $3 or so per ton and $2.16 for hazardous waste. He said that is “bass-ackward” in his opinion. There was a fire every year for nine years and one fire burned for three days because they didn’t know how to put it out.
Mayor Voigt said the local fire department does not have radioactive training and has wanted a second entrance to the landfill that is upwind. He said Belleville has a mutual aid agreement with Van Buren Township and city fire fighters would be there in case of an accident.
He said Western Wayne Hazmat may not be able to handle a radioactive accident. He said fires start because the wrong things are mixed together. He told of one landfill accident that had small pellets dropping from the sky and several hundred people had to be evacuated.
“The township gets $800,000 a year [from the landfill]. I don’t think it’s worth it,” Mayor Voigt said.
City manager Jason Smith, joined the meeting by zoom from the Michigan Municipal League conference on Mackinac Island. He said they would like to increase tipping fees for the hazardous waste, but the fee is locked in by the agreement and cannot change. The household waste fee increases 2% a year.
City manager Smith said House Bill 5923 was introduced in the Natural Resources Committee and Rep. Miller expects it to get to the full House before the lame duck session. He said Rep. Miller would like support for this bill which would block hazardous waste of any kind.
Smith said if that doesn’t work, there is Plan B that is to increase tipping fees. He said HB 5923 is based on the New York outright ban on hazardous waste. He said he talked to the MML attorney at the conference who said the MML could file an amicus brief on the issue if it went to appeals court.
Mayor Voigt said the MML lobbying team would support it and he met with the Conference of Western Wayne earlier that day that will also support it.
This is the resolution passed by the city council on Sept. 13:
CITY OF BELLEVILLE
Resolution No. 24-028
Resolution regarding the radioactive waste scheduled to come
to Wayne County
WHEREAS, the City of Belleville borders Van Buren Township and is adjacent to the Wayne Disposal Inc. Hazardous Waste Landfill that is preparing to take 6,000 cubic yards of soil and concrete and 4,000 gallons of ground water contaminated with elevated radiation from Niagara Falls Storage Site in Lewiston, New York, which from 1944 until 1952 served as a primary storage location for wastes and byproducts associated with uranium ore refining; and,
WHEREAS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working on a multiyear project to remove the elevated radiation wastes from the Niagara site with 25 semitrailer loads a week of the radioactive waste shipped on local highways and roads, beginning in late August through January 2025; and
WHEREAS, the Conference of Western Wayne, comprised of eighteen member communities representing over 730,000 residents in passed a resolution in opposition to the proposed plan; and
WHEREAS, Belleville City officials were not notified of the upcoming transport of radioactive waste through and near our communities and public safety issues of this magnitude affect the entire region and surrounding communities in Michigan, putting our residents, motorists and infrastructure in harm’s way; and
WHEREAS, government officials and residents have no say in what occurs at Michigan Disposal, although it directly impacts the health and welfare of our communities; and
WHEREAS, questions about why the Wayne Disposal site was selected, why local officials and the public were not notified, what safety measures are being taken for the transport and disposal of materials, whether the waste will be tested before landfilling, what protocols and technologies are being used to safely manage and contain the waste, and what ongoing monitoring of materials all remain unanswered;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, on this the 13th day of September 2024 the Belleville City Council approves authorization to enter into intergovernmental litigation against Republic Services with a coalition of local communities seeking injunctive relief from the acceptance of radioactive waste materials; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be distributed to Michigan Legislators and Governor Gretchen Whitmer seeking an immediate injunction by the State of Michigan for the acceptance of radioactive waste materials into the State until the conclusion of the legal process against Republic Services and the City supports a permanent remedy from the State of Michigan and its Agencies for receiving radioactive waste materials.
Briana Hootman, City Clerk/Treasurer
Ken Voigt, Mayor, City of Belleville
Agenda Date: September 13, 2024