Upcoming Public Meeting in Wayne County Discusses Plan for Radioactive Waste Storage

In Wayne County, local authorities have arranged for a community meeting to talk about a controversial proposal. The plan is to bring hazardous, radioactive waste into a landfill in Van Buren Township.

The public discussion is coming up next Tuesday at a well-known building in Detroit. Some local leaders have expressed worries about this plan. These concerns came around after some learned that Wayne Disposal is planning to take a large amount of soil, concrete, and groundwater contaminated with radiation from a place in New York tied to the Manhattan Project from World War II.

“Moving nuclear waste is a heavy risk to folks in the area and our county as a whole, and we want to make sure their voices are heard,” the county commission chair stated. “We’re the country’s 19th most populated county, and we’re next to the world’s largest supply of freshwater. Surely, there should be other places, that are less populated and risky, where this waste can be stored.”

Professionals from the fields of environment are expected to join in on the discussion. The township supervisor of Van Buren will also likely be in attendance. The purpose of the meeting is to provide enough information to persuade the powers that be to move the hazardous waste somewhere else.

The County Executive queried why waste ends up in Wayne County. Large waste companies operate some of the biggest hazardous waste landfills and processing facilities in the States right in Wayne County.

“I get that these materials need to go somewhere and very few public officials would welcome toxic waste. But there has to be a solution that doesn’t mean Wayne County becomes the go-to place for everyone’s unwanted waste. That’s something we won’t stand for,” the Executive stated.

Due to a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, state and local officials are pretty much tied up in regulating hazardous waste.

An official from Trenton stated on Monday that the plan to accept the waste is “worrying” and started talks about a more in-depth talk on how hazardous waste is managed countrywide.

Expect a livestream of the meeting on the Wayne County Commission YouTube page. You can also join in via Zoom.