Northville - December 11, 2019
Earlier this week the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) issued another Violation Notice related to the Arbor Hills Landfill. The latest Violation Notice was issued to the landfill gas to energy plant owner/operator, Fortistar Methane, and was nearly identical to the Violation Notice issued on February 1st of this year but has not been resolved.
The most significant violations cited involve SO2 emissions exceeding permit limits (on-going since May 2015). The higher SO2 emissions trigger the need for a significant new air emission permit called a Potential for Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit. Other issues include the unpermitted use of diesel fuel to start turbines and venting of landfill gas during turbine start-up and shutdown.
The SO2 emission issues are complicated issues to resolve, but this is Fortistar’s core business. A similar SO2 emission problem was quickly resolved at the Riverview Michigan landfill (by a more honorable company) by installing process equipment to remove the sulfur compounds.
Also this week, Advanced Disposal Service (ADS) responded to recent violation notices for community odors. It is the opinion of The Conservancy Initiative that the ADS response is not a serious response.
When reading ADS response, it is important to know that odor complaints were being received from 10/22 until at least 11/24 every day the wind was blowing towards Northville. According to the ADS response, there were no actions taken to address odors for almost one month, ADS did not report a cause for the odors or make any commitment for corrective actions. ADS does warn EGLE that occasional odors are beyond their control (which is a total disregard for regulations).
What Can You Do to Help?
The Conservancy Initiative is trying hard to elevate the landfill compliance issues. If you haven’t already contacted the Attorney General and Governor please consider completing a postcard (or two) or a letter in the near future. To obtain self-addressed postcards to our Governor and Attorney General please see the posting below or contact The Conservancy Initiative at Salemtownshipdump@gmail.com.
All recent violation notices and responses can be found HERE. (Warning the list is long).