The Riverview Land Preserve Landfill opened in 1968 and is owned and operated by the City of Riverview. The facility was formerly a small ski hill and continued to operate as a ski hill until some time in the 90s. Although the landfill is proclaimed to be a regional resource, only the City of Riverview enjoys revenues from the operation. The landfill provides approximately 1/3 of the revenue needed to operate this downriver community.
The Riverview Land Preserve is located very close to several residential neighborhoods in Riverview, Trenton, Woodhaven, and Brownstown. The landfill has been the source of numerous community complaints including nuisance odors, blowing trash, traffic issues, and nuisance birds. Excess emissions and odors from the landfill have resulted in violations from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
For the past 5 years, residents who live in the shadow of the ever-growing Riverview Land Preserve have organized to oppose a proposed expansion of the landfill. The expansion plans are based solely on the economic needs of the City of Riverview as there is plenty of alternative landfill capacity already existing in Wayne County.
On Monday afternoon, the residents took off work, found daycare for their children, and turned out in great numbers to voice their opposition at a public meeting. They were rewarded when the Wayne County Solid Waste Facility Inclusion Committee denied the landfill’s expansion request. <See Detroit News Article>
Much like prior meetings that took place in 2017 and in 2021, public comments were overwhelmingly opposed to expanding the landfill. Most of the complaints were not new. Many complained about quality-of-life issues such as foul odors, noise and truck traffic, among others. They say that the city has failed to address their concerns, and some even suggested that it may not even be possible to fix those problems, since the landfill is simply too close to residential neighborhoods to make odor and noise problems go away.
They said the expansion would only make those problems worse because it would bring the trash closer to their homes.
The Facility Inclusion Committee appeared to be moved by the resident’s complaints and did not appear satisfied with the City of Riverview’s efforts to meet conditions set forth in the 2021 hearing. Among the committee’s concerns were the city’s failure to fully implement curbside recycling services and their failure to reach an agreement with Brownstown Township regarding a proposed relocation of the landfill entrance.
In addition to the resident’s opposition, Patrick Cullen, Director of the Wayne County Land Resources Management Division reported that Wayne County currently has more than 25 years of landfill capacity and the Michigan legislature is working on regulations designed to increase recycling rates which will effectively increase our existing capacity.
The “Stop the Riverview Landfill” group was well organized and prepared and should be very proud of the opposition they organized to oppose the landfill expansion. Someday soon, a similar effort may be needed in Northville to oppose an anticipated request for expansion to the Arbor Hills Landfill.