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Napier Road Detour
Many residents have noticed the landfill trucks began using Six Mile Road this week to access the landfill. There has been a steady parade of trash trucks, gravel haulers, and semi-trucks beginning before 6 AM until into the early evening. The large trucks roll past the “No Truck” signs and carry significant speed past Ridge Wood Elementary, while parents are parallel parking to attend their children’s baseball games.
The normal truck route utilizes Five Mile Road and Napier Road and avoids residential areas when accessing the landfill entrance. This week, the trucks began detouring onto Six Mile Road because Napier Road has been unexpectedly closed between Five Mile and Six Mile Roads. A small bridge was washed our by the recent heavy rains.
Although The Conservancy Initiative understands the road outage is the result of an act of nature and should only be temporary, we question the logic of routing the heaving truck traffic past an elementary school, utilizing a gravel road, and through residential neighborhoods when a better route is clearly available. A much better detour route would be Six Mile Road between Napier Road and Chubb Road and Chubb Road between Five Mile and Six Mile Roads. This route would keep the trucks on their normal route through Northville and Plymouth Townships and not result in any additional truck traffic in the Hamlet of Salem.
Map showing truck routes to Arbor Hills entrance
Interestingly, the Arbor Hills Landfill (Advanced Disposal) actually donated $1 Million to Salem Township in 2019 to help pave Chubb Road from Five Mile to Six Mile Road but when a temporary detour is needed the trucks were routed through Northville. The Conservancy Initiative has begun working with our local leadership to find out how this posted detour route can be changed and prevent it from happening again.
Trash from Canada
The truck parade on Six Mile Road has caused many neighbors to notice the number of trucks that appear to be hauling Canadian trash (trailers marked “Windsor Disposal Services”). Believe it or not, household trash is considered a commodity and is protected from restriction during interstate and international trade (i.e. – Michigan can’t close its border to Canadian trash). Michigan tried to restrict Canadian trash in the past and was taken to court and lost this fight.
Windsor Disposal Services trailer headed to the Arbor Hills Landfill
Michigan landfills are very attractive to Canadian trash haulers due to our very low landfill costs. Michigan landfill tipping fees are among the lowest in the country. The low landfill costs result from Michigan’s vast landfill capacity (EGLE reports Michigan has 24 years of landfill capacity[1]) which also makes recycling difficult.
The last owners of the Arbor Hills Landfill, Advanced Disposal, accepted very little Canadian trash. Annual Reports detailing quantities and origins of all waste disposed in Michigan are posted annually on the EGLE website. The latest report does not include the time period since Green for Life (a Canadian based company) has taken ownership of the landfill. It would not be surprising to learn the amount of Canadian trash accepted has increased since GFL took ownership of Arbor Hills. The Conservancy Initiative will report this data when it becomes available.
[1] Report of Solid Waste Landfilled in Michigan, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020, https://www.michigan.gov/documents/egle/Solid-Waste-Landfilled-Report-FY2020_720245_7.pdf