Mayor Ken Voigt called a special 6 p.m. Belleville City Council meeting for Aug. 26 to pass a resolution opposing radioactive waste scheduled to be disposed of in Wayne Disposal in Van Buren Township.
Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Bates and Councilman Randy Priest were unable to attend and Councilman Jeremiah Beebe couldn’t get there until 6:20 p.m., so the meeting went into recess until he arrived.
That’s when the resolution was passed by the three-member quorum: Mayor Voigt, Councilman Beebe, and Councilwoman Julie Kissel. The resolution was to be taken to the Wayne County Commission meeting the next day when it planned to discuss the radioactive waste. Mayor Voigt said he and city manager Jason Smith planned to attend the commission meeting.
Mayor Voigt said the resolution was in support of the resolution recently signed by the Council of Western Wayne.
City manager Smith said Belleville Lake is less than 2,000 feet from the entrance to the landfill and the city limits are 2,800 feet from the landfill entrance.
City of Belleville
Resolution No. 24-028
Resolution Expressing Concern Regarding the Radioactive Waste scheduled to come to Wayne Co., MI
WHEREAS, Belleville residents have raised previous concerns over hazardous waste traveling through Wayne County and being disposed of at Republic Services’ Wayne Disposal and Michigan Disposal, and
WHEREAS, Wayne Disposal is preparing to take 6,000 cubic yards of soil and concrete and 4,000 gallons of groundwater contaminated with elevated radiation from the 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, and
WHEREAS, 25 semitrailer loads a week of the radioactive waste would be shipped on local highways and roads to Wayne Disposal, in Van Buren Township, beginning in late August and expected to continue through January 2025, and
WHEREAS, City of Belleville and Wayne County officials were not notified of the upcoming transport of radioactive waste through our communities, and
WHEREAS, public safety issues of this magnitude affect the entire western Wayne County region and the surrounding communities in Michigan, putting our residents, motorists and infrastructure in harm’s way; and
WHEREAS, Belleville officials and residents have no say in what occurs at Michigan Disposal, although it directly impacts the health and welfare of our communities and all of Wayne County; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Belleville formally requests that Wayne Disposal reconsider accepting radioactive waste, and
BE IT FUTHER RESOLVED that The City of Belleville encourages the Federal Government to seek alternative solutions to disposing of their radioactive and hazardous waste that does not jeopardize our citizens and infrastructure, including changing interstate agreements, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Belleville further requests that local city, township, village, and Wayne County officials be notified in advance of all transport of the referenced waste, including but not limited to; specific safety measures during transport, routes of the semitrailers and what dates and times these semitrailers will be traveling through Wayne County communities.
Brianna Hootman, clerk/treasurer
Kenneth R. Voigt, mayor SECOND: