Rep. Miller urges landfill pressure on Gov., House Speaker

During an hour-long press conference on Monday, during which almost a dozen people spoke, State Rep. Reggie Miller, D-Van Buren Township, urged the public to pressure Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican House Speaker Matt Hall on a local atomic waste issue, where bills are pending
The press conference was held inside the Belleville Area District Library, with a crowd of sign-waving people outside the doors who also were against Wayne Disposal getting it license renewed or being allowed to expand.
Reporters from Detroit media jammed the Cozadd meeting room and blocked members of the public who were trying to witness the comments from a line of politicians.
Rep. Miller said the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) did not follow public engagement because it announced a Sept. 18 public hearing at Wayne County Community College on the renewal of the hazardous waste landfill permit, in “a local weekly newspaper of limited circulation.”
She referred to the Independent, which is the newspaper of record for the city of Belleville and Van Buren Township. The required legal notice for such a meeting was put into the Aug. 14 edition, with the information that EGLE planned to issue the renewed license for Wayne Disposal on the North I-94 Service Drive unless some information from the public comes up to dissuade them. The public was encouraged to attend the meeting and give opinions and/or write their objections to a given site.
EGLE has said right along that unless something changes, Wayne Disposal will get its renewal because it has followed all the state rules.
Miller pointed out that the wishes of the community have been ignored. She said there is “no undo button here” and, “Once it’s here, its’ here.”
She said the landfill is steps away from water, schools and you don’t want to send your kid to school with a Geiger counter in his lunch box.
“When the community says no, EGLE needs to listen,” she said, and there was rousing applause from the crowded room. She called on EGLE to halt the steps to approval until all the questions have been answered.
Miller said to the crowd that on Sept. 18 at Wayne County Community College she wants people to stand up, pack the place, be strong and don’t take no for an answer.
“We will not accept this expansion – not now, not then, not ever,” and there was more applause. The vertical expansion will put the landfill higher than it is now, made possible by a change in the flight paths at Willow Run Airport.
State Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, spoke next saying this area is “not interested in being the country’s dumping ground.” He referring to Senate Bills 246 and 247 he sponsored that were passed last term and are in committee. He said they raise the tipping costs from the lowest fees in the country and put a five-year moratorium on any expansion while they study the details.
He said this is not a partisan issue and, “our legislature will stop them.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, MI-6, said EGLE has announced Wayne Disposal will get approval because state law says if they meet the requirements, they get it.
She referred to Republicans holding up progress of the Michigan bills and told them to “quit f—ing” and then showed fake surprise at what came out of her mouth.
She said tipping fees should be at least $15 and, “We are not the trash capital of the United States of America… There are strong feelings, but we have to have action.” She said raising the fees would have an economic disincentive.
Throughout the rest of the comments from politicians, there was reference to Dingell’s statement, with Wayne County Executive Warren Evans saying, “I co-sign her comments. I just won’t say them.” Belleville mayor Ken Voigt began his comments with, “I promise not to say the f word.”
Romulus mayor Robert McCraight said, “Debbie got me wound up, but I won’t cuss.”
Mayor Voigt said this is not NIMBY – not in my back yard – because the Great Lakes is everybody’s back yard.
Speaker after speaker railed against having radioactive waste in a local toxic landfill near a lake and schools and urged EGLE not to renew the license or approve expansion.
Janine Rippy and engineer of Van Buren Township, one of the founders of Michigan Against Atomic Waste, with 1,100 members, urged EGLE to pause the expansion to study the elevated lead 210 recently found in the ground water and to implement ground-water monitoring with real-time reporting.
Rep. Miller ended the session asking the public to pressure the Governor and Speaker Hall to get legislation on the issue to a vote.
She also urged the public not to wait until the Sept. 18 hearing, but to get on the EGLE website now and put their ideas in writing.