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Most people are unaware the Arbor Hills landfill has an on-site wastewater treatment plant and a permit that allows the discharge of up to 100,000 gallons per day of “treated” groundwater into the region’s only cold-water trout stream, Johnson Creek, from December 1st through April 30th each year. The Conservancy Initiative has become aware that Arbor Hills has violated the allowable limits for ammonia as nitrogen being discharged. The exceedances are particularly troubling as the water being discharged is accumulated in two large ponds for up to a year before being discharged. These are the same ponds that were inadvertently discharged in violation of the permit in July 2020.
Green for Life (GFL) notified EGLE on January 13, 2021, of the ammonia as nitrogen exceedances and has shut down the WWTP discharge into Johnson Creek until corrective actions can be implemented. The permit limits are established by the Water Division of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to protect the environmental health of the watershed.
The environmental compliance record of the Arbor Hills Landfill is well documented as being problematic. Here are some of the issues currently being tracked by The Conservancy Initiative:
EGLE has created a web page to update the public on the status of the Arbor Hills Landfill due to the persistent odor complaints and environmental violations. Very few sites require this level of attention from EGLE.
SO2 limits have been exceeded continuously since 2015.
PFAS contamination has been found in groundwater.
PFAS contamination in a storm pond since 2016 with no remedial actions taken.
Odors in the sanitary sewer resulted miles from the landfill when the landfill changed leachate handling practices without notifications.
Northville area residents have zero-tolerance when it comes to protecting Johnson Creek. Any environmental issue involving Johnson Creek would be devasting to our community. The Conservancy Initiative will track this issue closely and report updates as soon as they become available.
Description of Wastewater Treatment Plant
The following descriptions represent our understanding of the operation of the landfill WWTP from publicly available records. We welcome the landfill to update our understanding if anything is not completely accurate.
The WWTP is located east of Napier Road and north of Five Mile Road. The facility is believed to be at least 20 years old. The most prevalent features of the facility are two large ponds which are easily visible on Google Earth. The ponds can store 6.5 million gallons of water each.
The WWTP was needed as the eastern section of the landfill (referred to as Arbor Hills East) is not lined which resulted in the groundwater just east of the landfill becoming contaminated. Many years ago, a slurry wall was installed near the eastern property line to stop leachate from impacting groundwaters outside the site. Gradient Control wells (GC-1 and GC-2, see site plan) are used to produce a groundwater gradient flowing towards the landfill (i.e. preventing contamination from leaving the site). Groundwater was treated using carbon filter beds or zeolite filter beds to remove organics and ammonia. The treated water was stored in the ponds until winter as Johnson Creek can only sustain the discharges during cold weather months. The carbon and zeolite filter beds were removed approximately 10 years ago when the groundwater remediation was successfully completed. An aeration system was added to the lagoons to increase dissolved oxygen levels and remove ammonia. Arbor Hills committed to reinstalling the carbon and zeolite filter beds in the future if needed.
Since the groundwater remediation on the property east of Napier was completed approximately 10 years ago, the treatment system is only needed to support the slurry wall gradient control wells. Water from the gradient control pumps is pumped to the ponds where it is stored until winter as the permit only allows discharging in the winter months. While in the ponds, the water is aerated, and treatment chemicals are added to control the water quality. From December 1 through April 30 Arbor Hills is permitted to discharge up to 100,000 gallons per day of “treated” water. The water must be sampled and analyzed 3 times per week to ensure it is meeting the required permit limits.