The Conservancy Initiative has new test results to report that confirm the Arbor Hills Landfill is continuing to impact Johnson Creek with PFOS. [Click Here for a short article explaining the origin and the hazards of PFOS]. A sample taken from the Johnson Creek tributary directly downstream of the Arbor Hills Landfill on June 29, 2023, contained 38 ngl/l of PFOS which is well above water quality standards (R 323.1057) for surface waters of 12 ng/l.
The Conservancy Initiative and community leaders from Northville Township and the City of Northville have called for periodic testing (at least monthly) of the stormwater runoff from the Arbor Hills Landfill (AHL) to measure the impacts on Johnson Creek, but EGLE does not believe the testing is necessary and has not required AHL to perform the testing. Until EGLE requires the testing or the landfill owner, Green for Life, acts as a good corporate citizen and voluntarily implements a testing program, The Conservancy Initiative will continue our random testing program.
Our sampling program is an effort to spotlight the landfill’s impacts on Johnson Creek to force action and prevent future expansion of the landfill. If you wish to contribute to our efforts, please consider making a donation to The Conservancy Initiative using this link.
The table below contains a summary of publicly available testing data characterizing the stormwater runoff being discharged from the Arbor Hills Landfill to Johnson Creek. Our testing program will add to this table and may establish a trend, document remediation efforts, or discover new PFOS releases.
Table 1 - PFOS Test Results
Figure 1
Arbor Hills Landfill runoff entering Johnson Creek. Picture taken near Ridge Road bridge over Johnson Creek.
In addition to the PFOS impacts, the Arbor Hills Stormwater discharge is extremely cloudy and appears to contain high levels of suspended solids. The turbidity and suspended solids damage Johnson Creek by lowering the dissolved oxygen necessary to support aquatic life.
The PFOS impacts on Johnson Creek have been documented since April 2020 but little has been done to reduce these impacts. We hope community leaders and residents will remember this demonstration of poor citizenship by the GFL when the day arrives to deny a landfill expansion. It is hard to imagine any community leaders supporting a landfill expansion at this site.
Foot Notes on PFOS Samples
1 Samples taken by The Conservancy Initiative (TCI) were taken from the unnamed tributary to Johnson Creek approximately 2500 feet downstream of the Arbor Hills Landfill, south of the Northville Ridge Subdivision.
2 Response to August 31, 2022, EGLE Violation Notice, GFL Environmental, October 7, 2022 [Effluent Pond = P3-15, NPDES Sample Johnson Creek = Outfall-CR]
3 First Interim Short-Term Storm Water Characterization Study, Arbor Hills Landfill, GFL Environmental, December 3, 2021
4 PFAS Site Characterization Report, Golder Associates Inc., Oct 2020
5 EGLE Surface Water Sampling Interactive Map, August 4, 2021, EGLE, sample taken from Johnson Creek on near Ridge Road,