Editorial: VBT joins Waste Management in wetlands battle

“The township is joining the bad guys against this precious wetlands,” one upset reader said Friday after reading the story about how the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees voted to join Waste Management of Michigan in a law suit against the Wayne County Conservation District.
At issue is the wet-mesic flatwoods in the northwest corner of the new part of the landfill being excavated in the township.
Dr. Constance Boris of the conservation district said the 12 acres of wet-mesic flatwoods is a super sponge with big trees, some 200 year old, taking up much water with its roots. She said losing those wetlands in VBT could make flooding in the rest of Wayne County worse than it is.
She has appealed the EGLE permit, which had granted the expansion plan to Waste Management that included the required preserving of 22 acres of wetlands with 70 acres of new wetlands in a different drainage district. And there is a law suit against Waste Management.
One reader commented on our website: “Way to go VBT in sticking it to the environment. Who needs rare protected wetlands when you can make heaps of money dumping garbage in them?…”
Another wrote: “Van Buren Township does not want to bite the hand that feeds them. …We had a lifetime guarantee for free pick up with the old landfield deal. VBT sided with them on new deal.”
We’ll see what happens in court.