WM landfill receives preliminary approval for VBT gas recovery plant

Waste Management’s Woodland Meadows landfill received preliminary site plan approval from the Van Buren Township Planning Commission on Feb. 28 on WM’s plan to build a methane gas recovery plant at the landfill at 39670 Ecorse Rd.
Kyle Robbins of Ameresco, on behalf of Waste Management, said they want to construct a facility that will receive landfill gas from the landfill which will be processed into high-Btu renewable natural gas and delivered to the Detroit Edison Gas (DTE) remote metering station for injection into a natural gas pipeline.
The facility and accessory site improvements will include a 12,652-square-foot compressor building, a 2,754-square-foot electrical building, compressors, tanks, process vessels, flares, process coolers, and wastewater treatment.
The site is a 4.41-acre lease parcel on the west side of Hannan Road, north of Ecorse Road.
Discussion on the project was more than an hour in length.
Director of Planning and Economic Development Dan Power said the host community agreement says Waste Management must present a site plan to the host and get approval, even though the landfill is overseen by the state. He said the proposed facility is a permitted use in this part of the site.
After the preliminary site plan is approved, the project will go on to electrical review and others before coming back for final site plan approval.
Vidya Krishnan, planning consultant from McKenna Associates, said the site will have access from Hannan Road. It will have one to two staff daily, one supervisor weekly and other staff on occasion. They have allowed for four paved parking spaces.
She said they have designed a green belt buffer on the east, south, and north sides of the site, with no greenbelt on the west where it abuts the landfill. There will be a berm with trees on it along the front of the site that will be noise deadening and sound barrier. There also is a mechanical equipment screening wall that will provide visual relief to the utilitarian building. She said the applicant agreed to an industrial building to face the Romulus mobile home park across the street, instead of the prefabricated metal build proposed.
Krishnan said a six-foot, chain-link wire fence is required and the gatee will be solid vinyl to shield the site from view. A noise study has been done to find out how much sound is going across to the residential units in Romulus.
Her recommendation was to grant preliminary site plan approval with eight conditions.
The Fishbeck engineer Mike Leppeck said they had a question on what kind of discharge there would be into the wasterwater that would go to the GLWA treatment plant. The facility is to eliminate stormwater into a ditch that is yet to be constructed.
He recommended granting the preliminary site plan and be sure they get started talking to Wayne County on stormwater management.
Director Power said the fire marshal/deputy fire chief said the gravel road around the site needs to be strong enough to support a 75,000-pound fire apparatus, but he had no objection to moving forward.
Applicant Robbins said Waste Management has a methane gas recovery plant on the north end of the landfill and now they want to have one on the south end because that part of the landfill is expanding and will have more gas.
He said the landfill gas will be processed to go into the natural gas pipeline. He said they had a drawing of estimated noise mitigating. He said it meets the zoning requirement for sound.
Treasurer Sharry Budd, who sits on the planning commission as board liaison, said she didn’t like the white fence in the drawing of the facility entrance because it was too stark.
Krishnan said it could be brown or something else to blend in. It was approved if it used earth tones.
Commissioner Jeff Jahr asked about the cell tower in the picture of the site and was told it was pre-existing. He asked if they had checked to make sure its fall zone wouldn’t be into the new buildings.
Krishnan said a new tower is designed to fall into itself, instead of the old way. Robbins said they didn’t look into that, but would.
“Get corroborating information on that,” Commissioner Jahr said. “We don’t want it crashing into a natural gas plant.”
Commissioner Bernie Grant voiced concerns about the people who live across the street in Romulus. He was told the berm proposed is eight-feet tall and they will have six-to-eight-foot trees on top. Krishnan said the branches would grow together in five years.
Commissioner Grant said if the community is higher than the berm residents could see over it. But it could be lower which would be better for them.
When asked about the duration of the sound, he said the sound is the same and never stops. Operating hours are 24/7.
Different sounds were associated with what they would hear, such as a vacuum cleaner running all the time or an air conditioner or washing machine.
Jahr said the loudest times would be when they are on emergency power, but even that is in compliance with the ordinance. He said it was on a par or less noisy than traffic.
Grant said traffic was not 24/7 and if its running all the time it could be a problem.
Jahr said he would like to know if when the sound reflects off the landfill, as it grows higher, it increases. He was informed the soil in the landfill absorbs sounds and so it would be quieter.
Grant asked about the flares now used.
“What normally happens to landfill gas?” Jahr asked.
Robbins said it is burned on site in flares. Jahr agreed the recycling was a better use for it. When asked about odors, he was told there is no odor when burning.
Krishnan said harvesting the methane gas keeps it from going into the atmosphere.
Chairperson Brian Cullin said having a greenbelt at the side that faces the landfill is a waste of money. Cullin asks what happens to the hydrogen sulfide, H2S, that is waste and he was told it was sent back into the landfill.
In other business at the two-hour-and-35-minute meeting, the commission:
• Held a public hearing during which there was no comment on the Cobblestone Creek Phase III Revision. The commission then approved recommending special land use approval to the township board of trustees with the revision which contained slightly fewer side-entry garages;
• Approved recommendation of a amended preliminary Planned Residential Development and Agreement for Cobblestone Creek Phase III Revision;
• Approved a recommendation to grant a temporary land use permit to conduct a outdoor fireworks tent sale at Lakewood Shopping Plaza from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 21 to July 4 by Phantom Fireworks. This is the 12th time Phantom will be at this site for fireworks sales;
• Approved an amendment to the Belle Pointe Estates Subdivision site plan to include a slightly different design for one home. The subdivision is on the east side of Belleville Road, north of Ecorse Road;
• Heard Commissioner Jahr say the township needs good Van Buren Township residents to volunteer their time for boards and commissions. He said the information is on the township website. Also, he said, there may not be openings now, but openings happen quickly from time to time and need filling;
• Heard Treasurer Budd announce that Wendy’s is going to reopen soon. She said she saw trucks taking junk out of the site;
• Heard Director Power say that the township is dealing with the main Camping World office and they have a final adjustment to the floorplan and are wanting to move forward soon. “Sticking with the plan is the plan,” Power said;
• Learned the commission is scheduled for its March 13 meeting with a miscellaneous agenda; and
• Was informed Tractor Supply has a lot of design challenges for its proposed project but they are working through them. A store has been proposed for the southeast corner of Sumpter and Hull roads.