The Conservancy Initiative Opposes Changes to the Perimeter Monitoring System

The Consent Judgement which resolved years of Air Quality and Waste Management Violations, including numerous odor violations, contained a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) which required Arbor Hills to install six air monitoring stations on the eastern perimeter of the landfill. Agreeing to the SEP decreased the settlement penalty amount. The SEP required Arbor Hills to respond with corrective actions whenever methane (CH4) or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations are detected above action levels.

EGLE issued Violations Notices to Arbor Hills in October and December for not inadequately responding when action levels were reached. The violation notices cited 54 separate days from June 10, 2022 - December 6, 2022, when CH4 exceed action levels and Arbor Hill’s response was inadequate.

Green for Life (GFL), the current owner of the Arbor Hills Landfill, believes most of the high CH4 concentrations are due to atmospheric conditions, occur during times when odor complaints are not normally received (overnight hours with very calm conditions), and do not warrant corrective actions. GFL has requested changes to the perimeter monitoring system and the response requirements contained in the Consent Judgement.

The Conservancy Initiative, Northville Township, and the City of Northville Leadership believe all instances of high CH4 concentrations will eventually result in odors and must be investigated and corrected immediately. We strongly oppose the changes suggested by Arbor Hills. Attached is the letter sent by the Conservancy Initiative to EGLE which makes our position very clear.

<CLICK HERE> for a printable pdf version of the actual letter transmitted to EGLE.

January 16, 2023

Scott Miller

Air Quality Division

Jackson District Supervisor

(Transmitted by email)

Mike Kovalchick

Air Quality Division

Environmental Manager

(Transmitted by email)

Mr. Miller and Mr. Kovalchick,

The Conservancy Initiative wants to thank you for your recent efforts to enforce the Consent Judgement (CJ) with the Arbor Hills Landfill. We support your efforts to require Arbor Hills to use the Perimeter Monitoring System to detect and correct landfill gas leakage before it results in community odor issues.

We understand Arbor Hills is suggesting changes to the responses required by the CJ to certain alarm conditions detected by the Perimeter Monitoring System. Specifically, high methane concentrations detected by the monitors during calm atmospheric conditions which tend to dissipate when the conditions change. The Conservancy Initiative believes high methane concentrations detected at the landfill perimeter will eventually result in noxious community odors and must be promptly investigated and corrected regardless of weather conditions or the time of day.

Our team strongly opposes Arbor Hill’s suggested changes as the Perimeter Monitoring System is an important tool for protecting our residents, especially when cell 6 of the landfill becomes active in 2023. As you know, landfill cell 6 presents a greater odor risk as it is much closer to Northville neighborhoods than the currently active cells.

The monitoring system was agreed to as part of the CJ as a Supplemental Environmental Project, reducing Arbor Hill’s financial penalty. In the short time since the CJ was finalized, the Perimeter Monitoring System has proven to be a useful tool for predicting and troubleshooting odor issues (see attachments). The monitoring system and CJ compliance requirements should not be changed and Arbor Hills’ recent poor environmental compliance performance should not warrant serious consideration of their proposed changes. Examples of Arbor Hills’ recent environmental compliance problems include:

Community odor issues have not been resolved (see attachments).
Arbor Hills has requested and received changes to extend the deadline for installation of sulfur reduction equipment or a Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) which is a requirement of a separate Consent Order with EGLE and the USEPA (i.e. - Arbor Hills missed their deadline). <LINK TO CONSENT ORDER MODIFICATION>.
Arbor Hills has begun the installation of process equipment to support the RNG plant without receiving the required permits to install. EGLE has issued a Violation Notice and there may be stipulated penalties for not obtaining the necessary permit. <LINK TO VIOLATION NOTICE>.
Arbor Hills has missed the deadline for the start-up of Household Hazardous Waste collection required by Appendix G of the Consent Judgement. The Consent Judgement contains stipulated penalties (Paragraph 13.7) for this deadline.
Although unrelated to air quality violations, Arbor Hills consistently exceeds permit limits contained in their industrial wastewater discharge permit with the Ypsilanti Community Utility Authority (YCUA). Arbor Hills has been declared in “Significant Noncompliance” with its industrial wastewater permit for at least the last 3 years.
Arbor Hills was issued a violation notice for discharging PFOS above water quality standards into Johnson Creek with their stormwater discharge <LINK TO VIOLATION NOTICE>. The PFOS impacts have continued since being discovered in 2021. An additional violation was issued when a significant leachate spill reached Johnson Creek in 2022 <LINK TO VIOLATION NOTICE>.

The Conservancy Initiative is requesting additional support from EGLE to improve feedback to the community following significant odor events. Occasionally, an obvious change occurs at the landfill, resulting in a sudden increase in noxious odors wafting into Northville neighborhoods. Residents dutifully submit odor complaints but are never given feedback on what occurred at the landfill or how the matter was corrected. Arbor Hills seems to believe these events are normal and cannot be avoided. We disagree and believe if the landfill operation was properly respected and attended to, virtually all these events could be avoided. Requiring ”in-person” reports of these types of events to the affected parties may help prioritize the corrective actions.

Our request is simple. Whenever there is a significant odor event (EGLE can be the arbiter), Arbor Hills should be required to report to the Northville Landfill Working Group and/or the Northville Township Board of Trustees within 30 days on the corrective actions.

Attached are two recent examples of significant odor events. In both instances (November 22 and December 20, 2022), over 20 odor complaints were spontaneously received. Both events triggered high methane concentrations at the landfill perimeter. What caused these events and how were they corrected? Were they avoidable? If so, should penalties be imposed? How will Arbor Hills learn from these events so that they aren’t repeated?

We look forward to discussing our suggestion with you are your convenience.

Reference Documents