VBT meets with Army Corps of Engineers on proposal for landfill

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering US Ecology hazardous waste landfill in Van Buren Township for a Superfund Cleanup disposal site.
At the regular meeting of the VBT Environmental Commission on Oct. 21, Township Trustee Jeff Jahr asked for a report on the meeting he attended.
Matthew Best, Deputy Director of Planning and Economic Development, said the township was contacted by US Ecology to meet with the Army Corps of Engineers. It was 24-hours notice, he said.
The corps brought its physical health experts and wanted to know if the township was happy with US Ecology.
Best said VBT has a landfill which is able to take some “technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive materials” — TENORM waste. US Ecology is being assessed for taking the waste. The corps wants to set up other locations to take Superfund waste so it doesn’t have to transport it cross-country for disposal.
He said the Army Corps does all the Superfund clean ups and is looking at bringing in mostly contaminated soils. Best said it would be the same kind of waste the landfill gets now, only from a different location.
Best said US Ecology would get under 50 picocuries of radioactive waste.
“Dr. Wilson grilled them at some length and was satisfied,” said Trustee Jahr, referring to Environmental Commission member David Wilson, a retired chemistry professor.
“Radium decays to produce radon and as a gas it migrates,” Dr. Wilson said of his chief concern, explaining this is started by the degeneration of fermentable substances.
Dr. Wilson said they told him they will bury it 10 feet or more below the surface and they are not burying fermentable substances with it so no gas is generated.
“They were talking a different language,” Best said of Wilson and the other chemists who discussed details in chemical terms.
“It was at a technical level,” Jahr said, noting they were glad to have Wilson present to talk to them.
Jahr said then the corps asked US Ecology to leave the meeting and asked the township if it had been a good citizen and performed well.
“We felt they worked well with us,” Jahr said of US Ecology.
“That was the purpose of their meeting,” Best said. “They have not selected US Ecology yet.” He said US Ecology would have to bid on the jobs and US Ecology would send a notice to the Supervisor’s office on any new jobs it gets.
“It is not fracking waste,” Best emphasized.
He said there is naturally occurring radioactive qualities and once you move it, “you’ve processed it” and then it is considered TENORM, “technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive materials.”
“We’ll be getting soils,” Best said. “Other landfills will get structures.”
He said the host community agreement for this landfill, “says the only thing we can limit is NO out of state waste.
“That would be very troubling to a lot of people,” Best said of such a decision.
Wilson said the meeting was very instructive and he was glad he had the opportunity to attend. He filled in for Environmental Commission chairman Dave Brownlee who was not available on such short notice.
Besides Best, Wilson, and Jahr, the township was represented by Supervisor Linda Combs at the meeting.
The Army Corps of Engineers does all the Superfund Cleanups and is responsible for the materials even after burial in a landfill, Best said.
He said he talked with Patrick Cullin who is in charge of Wayne County Solid Waste Management for information on TENORM and he said TENORM has been in the county for years and it is the same yesterday as it is today.
“There is no new source planned to come into the township with TENORM waste and he’ll alert us to anything new,” Best said.
He said TENORM is only going to Type 1 landfills like US Ecology.
In other business at the Oct. 21 meeting, the commission:
• Reelected Brownlee as chairman and Norm DeBuck as vice chairman for the coming year;
• Discussed the proposed ordinance against carcinogenic coal tar sealants and agreed to put it on the Nov. 16 work/study session of the VBT Board of Trustees for discussion and possibly on the agenda of the Dec. 8 board meeting for the first of two votes. The commission hopes to get the ordinance in place before spring when people will be sealing their driveways;
• Discussed the Recycling Road Map, a document to inform residents on where to take items locally for recycling. They discussed whether to consolidate it with the Wayne County Guide and how to distribute it so everyone will have access to the information. It will be on the agenda of the Nov. 18 commission meeting;
• Discussed the new Shoreline Ordinance, with Trustee Jahr complaining that the township’s consultants keep adding things. He said the ordinance was intended for use of the shoreline and somebody brought in canned words. The ordinance is on its way to public meetings and then a public hearing before heading to the township board for action.