The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners is the most important approval GFL needs to allow a NEW LANDFILL. GFL is actively lobbying Board members by inviting them to tour the landfill and painting a rosy picture of its operations.

The Board of Commissioners needs to hear both sides of the story. Letters or emails to the Commissioners only take a few minutes.

We need the community to act now to prevent a NEW LANDFILL in Salem Township. This post contains instructions for attending and commenting at public meetings, as well as for contacting elected officials. The time is NOW. A decision is expected within six months. Please read and take action! A Town Hall is being scheduled for mid-January to answer your questions and provide more details.

Green for Life’s record at the Arbor Hills landfill shows a consistent “minimal compliance” approach—only addressing environmental standards when absolutely necessary and often using the enforcement process to delay significant upgrades. The company’s inability to reliably meet PFOS discharge limits, despite years of warnings and updated regulations, demonstrates a reluctance to invest in effective treatment technology until regulators exert pressure. 

A sample taken directly downstream of the small tributary, which drains stormwater runoff from the Arbor Hills Landfill, contained 83 ng/l of PFOS (a forever chemical), which exceeds the legal limit of 12 ng/l.

At the current rate of incoming trash, the Arbor Hills Landfill will reach its permitted capacity within 3 years and will need to close its gates. Space is so limited that the truck scales at the landfill entrance were recently relocated to make room for the last shipments of trash.

In June 2021, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) became aware that the Arbor Hills Landfill was discharging stormwater runoff into Johnson Creek. EGLE issued a violation notice (VN-011821) requiring a detailed study of the PFOS contamination and promising an Administrative Consent Order to correct the illegal discharges. Four years have passed, yet EGLE has not issued the Consent Order, and the stormwater discharge from Arbor Hills continues to exceed water quality standards for PFOS.

Many residents recently received a letter from the law firm Liddle Sheets P.C.s requesting information for a potential class action lawsuit against the Arbor Hills Landfill. The Conservancy Initiative has attempted to contact Liddle Sheets P.C., but we have not received a return call. We are writing to share our perspective and recommend that residents do not respond to this request. Our community must remain united and focused on a single goal: stopping the proposed new landfill in Salem Township. NO NEW LANDFILL!

The odors from Arbor Hills Landfill are continuing. For 115 days, from January 1 to April 25, there have been 363 odor complaints. This is unacceptable, and we expect things to get worse as Arbor Hills opens another new cell, even closer to Northville Township neighborhoods.

The Conservancy Initiative is concerned that EGLE and some of our local leaders are growing numb to Arbor Hill’s nearly constant odors. 207 Odor Complaints were received during the first 59 days of 2025. The odor complaints are real, not fabricated or coordinated. They originated from 109 unique residents and resulted from the excess emission and noxious odors from the Arbor Hills Landfill.

Odors from the Arbor Hills Landfill are increasing, and little is being done. The Conservancy Initiative believes the perimeter monitors located on the eastern border of the Arbor Hills landfill should be used as the basis for violations and penalties. Polluters must be held responsible; Green for Life must not be rewarded with permission to build a new landfill adjacent to the problematic Arbor Hills Landfill. NO NEW LANDFILL.

The Conservancy Initiative is asking our Representatives to consider sponsoring legislation to impose a tax or tariff on all trash imported from Canada. If you agree, please use the links at the end of this post to tell our Senators and Representatives you support a tariff on all trash imported from Canada.

The Conservancy Initiative received 100 odor complaints in the first 25 days of January. Most of the odors were reported on six horrific days when the wind blew toward Northville and correlated closely with elevated methane (CH4) concentrations detected by the landfill's emission detection systems. Notably, these odors occurred on some of the year's coldest days, when no residents had open windows and few ventured outside.

Landfill odors have returned to the neighborhoods downwind of the landfill. The Conservancy Initiative has received 63 odor complaints over the first 16 days of January. The odor complaints correlate well with the landfill’s perimeter monitoring station data. When the monitoring stations detected elevated levels of Methane (CH4), community odor complaints were received. Very few complaints are received when CH4 concentrations are below 10 ppm. The odor complaints are valid.

Below is a video presentation with audio that explains some of the reasons we are opposed to the New Landfill in Washtenaw County. In this video, we try to focus on who will benefit from a new landfill. We will be using our Facebook page to share videos like this with groups we are targeting to influence in Washtenaw County.

On November 6, 2024, GFL requested that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) conduct an Advisory Analysis for a new landfill proposed on the composting facility property, which is located immediately north of the existing Arbor Hills Landfill. This Advisory Analysis is the first step in identifying and obtaining the necessary permits to construct and operate a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill (Type II Landfill) on the site. It will identify the required permits for landfill construction.

There were 200 – 250 or more who showed up to show they opposed a proposed new landfill in Salem Township. There would have been more, but parking at Northville Township Offices was limited. We apologize to those who missed the event due to the limited parking. The Conservancy Initiative and the leadership of Northville greatly appreciate all who attended on Monday night.

Our Town Hall is timely as we recently confirmed that Green for Life (GFL) has started the process of obtaining permits for a new landfill. We learned GFL requested EGLE to complete an Advisory Analysis of property on the Northwest corner of Napier and Six Mile Roads.

There are many reasons to deny permission for a new landfill in Salem Township, but the strongest argument may be that Washtenaw County does not need a landfill. Most of Washtenaw County’s trash is currently disposed of at the Woodland Meadows landfill, which has 25 - 30 years of capacity remaining.

The Washtenaw County Material Management Planning (MMP) Committee held its inaugural meeting on December 14th. This committee is tasked with identifying strategies to enhance waste recycling to meet statewide recycling goals, including deciding whether a new landfill will be needed when Arbor Hills shuts down in 5 years

The first meeting of the Washtenaw County Material Management Planning (MMP) committee is scheduled to be held on Thursday, November 14th at 10 AM at the Washtenaw County Learning and Resource Center (4135 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48108). This committee is responsible for identifying strategies to improve waste recycling and the need for additional landfill capacity. The MMP committee is our best chance to deny the proposed new landfill north of Arbor Hills.