Arbor Hills is currently covered by a General Stormwater Permit which does not require the stormwater effluent to be sampled. The General Stormwater Permit is currently in the process of being renewed and EGLE recently opened a period for public comments on the renewal of the General Stormwater Permit.
Activities at industrial facilities (including landfills and construction sites) have the potential to be exposed to the weather. Runoff from rainfall or snowmelt that comes in contact with these activities can pick up pollutants, and transport them directly to a nearby creek, river, lake, or indirectly via a storm sewer and degrade water quality. The Clean Water Act requires most industrial sites (including landfills) to obtain an industrial stormwater discharge permit.
The Conservancy Initiative believes a General Stormwater Permit, which does not contain requirements to periodically sample, analyze, and report on the quality of the stormwater effluent, is not appropriate for the Arbor Hills Landfill given the stormwater from the site is exceeding water quality standards for PFOS* concentration. Most of the stormwater at Arbor Hills is collected in a large detention pond just North of the railroad tracks near Napier Road before being discharged into a Johnson Creek Tributary. The stormwater discharge from the Arbor Hills Landfill contains PFOS in concentrations above Michigan water quality standards and this condition has likely existed since the use of fire suppression materials at the facility during a fire event in 2016.
The landfill stormwater drainage area is estimated at 0.57 square miles which is 2.2% of the total Johnson Creek drainage area and represents one of the largest (if not the largest) industrial or commercial impacts to Johnson Creek. The Conservancy Initiative believes a stormwater permit is a tool that EGLE should be using to help ensure Arbor Hills complies with applicable water quality standards. A site-specific permit with periodic effluent sampling and analysis would allow EGLE and the community to track the progress of corrective actions.
The Conservancy Initiative has submitted the attached comments regarding the General Stormwater Permit at Arbor Hills. <CLICK HERE> to view comments.
PFAS Update
We are expecting more information related to the PFAS contamination and the impact on Johnson Creek very soon. The first round of investigative sampling required by the EGLE violation notice has been completed and found PFOS concentrations exceeded Michigan water quality guidelines for surface water in approximately 80% of 130+ stormwater samples taken. EGLE will be holding a town hall (most likely virtually) to update the community on PFAS contamination. We expect the town hall will be held in the 1st quarter of 2022 and will update the community as soon as a date is set.
*Note - In this article, we use the acronyms PFAS and PFOS. PFAS refers to a large family of chemicals, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances which are man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals. PFOS refers to a specific chemical, Perfluorooctane sulfonate, which is a regulated in Michigan as a water contaminate.