Editorial: US Ecology faces VBT residents to explain permit

There was a lot of anger and fear stirred up in the Van Buren Township community after a Detroit Free Press article about Michigan Waste Disposal’s application for an EPA permit for its toxic waste treatment facility.
At Tuesday regular meeting of the VBT board of trustees, two representatives from US Ecology explained the permit and one expressed regret that the newspaper didn’t print all of what he said in an interview on the subject. VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara also said the paper misquoted him.
Tuesday’s presentation was requested by Trustee Reggie Miller who thought the details of the permit application should be discussed publicly.
Five residents from Mission Point subdivision and Linda Vista Court voiced concerns, but one said she believes US Ecology is working to make it safe. The US Ecology site on the North I-94 Service Drive is said to be the largest toxic waste disposal operation in the country by volume. A landfill has been at that site for 60 years.
The detailed explanations of what the permit request actually contained seemed to satisfy most of those present at the meeting. Trustee Sherry Frazier pointed out the US Ecology site is about 600 acres and the Waste Management site is 200 acres, with another 200 just approved. That means VBT has 1,000 acres of landfill. We need to keep an eye on it all.