Canton Township officials, along with those from Van Buren Township, the City of Belleville, the City of Romulus, and Wayne County, continue to fight an expensive, uphill battle against the efforts of Wayne Disposal Inc., to bring radioactive waste to the area.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to send 6,000 tons of nuclear waste produced during the manufacture of nuclear bombs in the 1940s and 1950, The waste had been stored at a New York site which is planned for remediation.
The local communities succeeded in securing a Temporary Restraining Order from circuit court preventing Wayne Disposal from accepting the waste matter from New York until a court hearing. Last week, however, Wayne Disposal, Inc. petitioned to have the case removed to federal jurisdiction in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan and dissolve the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO).
The communities and Wayne County are fighting to keep the TRO prohibiting the disposal of radioactive waste in place while filing to remand the case back to state court. They are fighting to keep the restraining order in place until Wayne Disposal, Inc. has been re-licensed, which will not occur until a public hearing weighing public input has taken place. Wayne Disposal is currently an unlicensed facility in the state of Michigan. Attorneys for the communities have also argued that radioactive waste is a nuisance, which local fire departments are not equipped to handle should a radioactive fire or other hazardous event occur. The site currently accepts radioactive and toxic waste from other sources.
“The Wayne Disposal site is near a very populated area in Wayne County, in the Huron River Watershed, with lakes, rivers and streams that all lead to the Great Lakes,” said Canton Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak. “The Great Lakes contain 21 percent of the world’s freshwater. Why would Michigan want to accept radioactive waste and expose our people and waterways to such dangerous pollution?”
“This is not a local problem this is a state problem,” said Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara. “Michigan is quickly becoming the dumping ground for the nation’s low-level radioactive waste. Our legislators need to stop Michigan from becoming the dumping ground of the nation.”
Belleville Mayor Ken Voigt expressed a similar thought.
“You couldn’t pick a worse location for a hazardous waste dump if you tried, let alone one that contains radioactive waste. In my opinion, this facility is a long-term existential threat to the entire State of Michigan.”
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight concurred.
“The City of Romulus stands resolute with our regional neighbors and Wayne County in what looks to be another fight to protect our environment as well the quality of life of our residents.
“The issue of hazardous waste coming to Michigan is an issue that affects the quality of life for everyone associated with the Great Lakes, not just southeast Michigan! It’s time for our judicial systems as well as our legislators in Lansing to support the initiative to keep these radioactive materials out of our landfills and protect the quality of life of the residents of Michigan! If it’s not good for New York, it’s not good for Michigan where it can possibly contaminate the largest supply of fresh water in the world,” McCraight said.
