Residents hosting town hall about potential Arbor Hills Landfill expansion in Northville Township
SALEM TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — Northville Township community members are hosting a town hall meeting Monday night to discuss the potential expansion of the Arbor Hills landfill in Salem Township.
They're hoping to prevent Green for Life, the landfill owner, from building a similar landfill on the property they own just north of Six Mile Road, across the street from Arbor Hills.
The landfill manager declined to comment on future plans once Arbor Hills reaches capacity.
The Arbor Hills landfill is expected to reach its capacity within the next five years. GFL could expand its footprint with the property it owns just to the north, but residents are rallying for them to take the trash somewhere else.
After opening in the late 60s, nearby residents say they've dealt with the stench and blowing trash from the landfill for long enough.
"This is really a once-in-a-generation decision that the community has to make to decide whether we want to have this property here be a dumping ground for Canadian waste and waste out of metro Detroit," said David Drinan, vice president of The Conservancy Initiative.
Drinan says they'll address the issue of accepting Canadian waste, which he says accounts for nearly 20% of all trash in Michigan landfills. He claims the landfill activity has deteriorated the roads and leaked harmful PFAS chemicals into the areas only cold water trout stream.
"We wonder what else might be going on. The Conservancy Initiative feels we're the group that's taken on bird-dogging the operation of the landfill. So, we think it's our responsibility to report back to the community that we're aware of GFL's plans and to start formulating an opposition plan," Drinan said.
Drinan says their ultimate goal is to influence Washtenaw County leadership to deny any requests to turn the property north of Six Mile Road into a new landfill.
