The Conservancy Initiative is convinced that as long as the Arbor Hills Landfill is operational, Northville Township will continue to experience odors, traffic concerns from landfill-bound heavy trucks, and contamination to Johnson Creek. This year may be pivotal in our fight to end landfill operations in Salem Township. At the current operational levels, Arbor Hills has less than 6 years of capacity. We expect Green for Life (GFL) will approach Washtenaw County and EGLE later this year to request additional landfill capacity at the site.
Community Odors
As of mid-March, over 200 odor complaints related to landfill odors have been received. EGLE issued has issued 4 Violations Notices to Arbor Hills recently. Three of the Violations were for excessive odors and inadequate responses to the odors. The 4th Violation was for operational activities that are not permitted related to the new Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) plant.
EGLE’s focus on compliance inspections at the Arbor Hills Landfill is a direct response to odor complaints from the community. Please continue to report noxious odors using The Conservancy Initiative’s online odor reporting tool. The odor complaints are our most effective tool for focusing attention on the non-compliant operation of Arbor Hills.
Fig. 1 - Trend of Daily Odor complaints
Fig 2 - Daily odor complaints. There have been over 200 odor complaints in the first 75 days of 2024
PFOS[1] Contamination
Arbor Hills continues to impact Johnson Creek with stormwater discharges contaminated with PFOS.
The PFOS discharges to Johnson Creek were first documented in April 2020 but likely began before this.
The Conservancy Initiative discovered the illegal discharges in early 2021 and EGLE issued a violation notice in June of 2021.
The landfill owner, Green for Life has committed to negotiating a Consent Order with EGLE to establish deadlines and a roadmap for correcting the illegal discharge but remedial actions are stalled awaiting direction from EGLE.
The Conservancy Initiative began sampling Johnson Creek immediately downstream of the Arbor Hills landfill in the summer of 2023 when Arbor Hill’s owner, Green for Life, and EGLE both refused to initiate periodic testing. Our samples are taken approximately 2000 feet downstream of the Arbor Hills discharge point but may be diluted by other waters entering the creek. Every publicly available sample characterizing the Arbor Hills stormwater discharge since 2020 has exceeded water quality standards for PFOS (12 ng/l) yet little has been done.
Fig 3 - Summary of PFOS testing of stormwater effluent
During this election year, we must educate our elected officials (Washtenaw County, Wayne County, Northville Township, State Legislators, etc.) on the problems at Arbor Hills and make them understand that new landfill capacity at this site is unacceptable. Please reach out (letters, phone calls, meetings, etc.) to our elected officials every chance you get.
[1] Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is one of a group of related chemicals known as perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS). This group is commonly used in non-stick and stain-resistant consumer products, food packaging, fire-fighting foam, and industrial processes. In epidemiology studies, PFOS has been associated with lower birth weights, decreased antibodies in young children, and increased cholesterol in adults.