VBT Environmental Commission tours toxic landfill

On Sept. 29, members of the Van Buren Township Environmental Commission got on a VBT SMART bus to go for a tour of the US Ecology/Wayne Disposal toxic landfill on the I-94 N. Service Dr. Going on the tour were Commission Chairman Norm DeBuck, Vice-Chairman Benjamin Ross, Commissioners Peter Creal and Tony Gibson, VBT board representative Trustee Donald Boynton, League of Woman Voters representative Donna Gilkey-Lavin, Director of Public Services Matthew Best, and Director of Planning and Economic Development Dan Power.
Director Best drove the 12-passenger bus for the tour, which began with a half-hour illustrated presentation at the site about what US Ecology/Wayne Disposal was asking for as changes to its federal and state licensing agreements. Among the requests is for ClosureTurf (artificial turf) to be allowed to cover closed landfills to stop groundwater penetration, a higher height landfill, liner changes, and approval to hold sealed containers for more than 24 hours to work out paperwork problems. A virtual meeting on the changes was scheduled for Oct. 6. If the EPA is considering the changes, public hearings will be set.