Trashed...Landfill neighbors fear the creep of groundwater pollution

June 15, 2005

THE ISSUES:

• A landfill constructed on sandy soil is leaching cancer-causing chemicals into the groundwater.

• Wexford County wants to bring in more trash from nine surrounding counties.

• Wexford residents pay some of the highest rates in the region for trash disposal...

• ... but industry pays some of the lowest rates.
At a time when dozens of Manton residents fear their water might be poisoned from a nearby landfill, there’s a plan on the table to import even more trash from nine other counties.
The county commissioners of Wexford County say they are spending millions of dollars to protect against future pollution and can be trusted to oversee a landfill that won’t leak toxins in the future. But residents feel the risks are too high.
This is a story of trying to balance big profits from the county-owned landfill with the health and property values of a small group of families in Cedar Creek Township.
Right now, the people with contaminated wells feel that no one in their right mind would pay market value for their homes.

CANCER FEARS
Manton resident Rita McNamara, who lives about a mile west of the landfill, learned her drinking water might be contaminated with a chemical that could give her cancer. She’s had trouble getting to sleep. Nightmares wake her up and anxiety plagues her during the day.
“It’s disheartening to learn that your water, the core of life, might be poisoned. It’s deeply psychologically disturbing. Think about it. You learn there are people in your community who are unwilling or unable to see the true priority of protecting the safety of its citizens before financial gain. You don’t feel protected or comforted,” she said.
McNamara and her husband knew they would have to eventually replace their well, but were surprised to get an unannounced visit from a health department employee saying that they’d have to dig a much deeper well -- 300 feet with cement along the pipe -- in order to ensure they would get clean water.
Unfortunately, the shaft caved in during the drilling and they went 11 days without water, forcing them to stretch a hose hundreds of yards to a neighboring home. “It got old,” McNamara said dryly. (McNamara successfully petitioned the county to pay the higher cost of the deeper well).

CONTAMINATION
The county will soon test 41 more wells to determine if their water is contaminated. Families in five homes and one business have already tested positive and have used bottled water for months. One well exceeded standards considered safe by the EPA for the volatile carcinogenic called trichloroethylene.
Guy Hissong, a former Michigan state trooper, lives in that home and has used bottled water since July. The county will pay for the new 400-foot well that was scheduled for drilling last week.
Hissong couldn’t be reached for comment, but reports are that he is not happy and wants the county to buy his home.
Brenda Wilson, whose well is not contaminated, said she’s been struggling with this issue ever since she moved near the landfill as a new bride 32 years ago. In fact, she recently compiled a 170-page municipal record of the landfill’s struggles.
Problems began almost immediately for the landfill, which opened in 1972 as a local dump. In 1973, the Forest Department said the landfill was too close to private property. In 1975, a hydrogeology report predicted that leachate could possibly move north. In 1979, the county’s Department of Public Works was put on notice that the area was considered “unsuitable” for a landfill because the soil was too sandy. It’s far better to have clay, which prevents toxins from leaching into the groundwater.
In 1979, the DNR strongly suspected there was a problem and asked the county’s Department of Public Works to install monitoring wells, which it did, but not until 1984 (and drilled many more afterward). In 1996, the state’s fears were confirmed: the well water of Brian Bell’s home
north of the landfill was discovered contaminated with trichloroethylene. The county drilled a deeper well for him, which has remained clean.

PROFIT CENTER OR LIABILITY?
John Divozzo, who heads up Wexford County’s Department of Public Works and oversees the landfill, is relatively new on the job. He acknowledges that mistakes were made in the past, but there are intense efforts now to line the entire landfill.
Over the next 18 months, the county will scoop out trash from unlined sites on 16 acres and put it in newly lined cells. It will also identify the underground plume of contaminates and how fast it’s traveling. Total clean-up, taking three years, will cost the taxpayers about $10 million.
“My personal opinion is this is a highly emotional topic. If everyone takes a deep breath and takes a look at the facts, we can find solutions,” Divozzo said.
Part of the solution involves money. Divozzo said the clean-up costs will nearly drain the landfill’s reserve of $12 million, and it’s clear that Wexford’s dumping fee
of $17 per ton is too low. The county is actually losing money with every load of garbage, especially from the industry, which pays a lower rate than residential haulers, Divozzo said.
Divozzo wants the county to increase its dumping rate to about $30 per ton, which he said would keep the landfill solvent and put enough aside for closure costs (as required by law). He also recommended that the county open up its landfill to nine additional counties in order to build a surplus for contingencies.

“NO” TO NINE-COUNTY PLAN
It was that last recommendation that got people howling.
To pass the plan, at least 66% of the surrounding townships and villages had to vote yes. By mid-April, the votes were in and the plan was defeated. McNamara said it’s largely because Cedar Creek residents went around to plead their case.
“They never expected us to get off our butts to do anything about this. They think we’re all just a bunch of bumpkins out here,” she said.
The county commissioners, its advisory board, and the DPW are regrouping to figure out a new plan to bring to the municipalities. They still want nine additional counties, but are willing to put on quantity limits. But many residents aren’t buying it and launched a petition drive last week.
So this is the weird thing …
Gary Gilmore, supervisor of Cedar Creek Township, pointed out that even though Wexford County has the lowest dumping fees around, the residents have not benefited one whit. Interestingly, Gilmore is a former county commissioner, but now aligns himself with Cedar Creek residents. He’s having trouble getting his seat back on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

AMAZING NUMBERS
Here are the numbers on who pays what in the region:
Glen’s Landfill charges a dumping fee in Leelanau County of about $42 per ton compared to Wexford’s dumping fee of $17 per ton.* Yet Leelanau County’s residents (in Elmwood Twp.) pay the Waste Management company only $58 per quarter compared to Cedar Creek residents who pay $69 for the same thing.
In fact, Glen’s Landfill charges Grand Traverse County residents the highest rate of all -- $46 per ton -- yet Acme Township residents pay only $55 per quarter for a large cart, according to numbers provided by Waste Management’s customer service.
There is no reason for this other than market forces. The government is not involved in any price setting or contract awards. So it appears that an ambitious hauler could come into Wexford County and make a killing.
McNamara said industry has benefited, especially Hayes-Lemmerz International, a foundry, and Cadillac Renewable Energy, which dumps its burned ash.
“While residents have paid more to get their trash hauled away, our industries have paid half as much or less than they would elsewhere,” McNamara said.
She contends that the two companies have successfully pressured the county board and DPW to keep rates extraordinarily low. In fact, the county has kept rates the same for the last 12 years (except for a 50 cent increase a few years ago).
“We have a Hayes-Lemmerz employee who was friggin’ appointed to the DPW board a few weeks ago. They’re trying to stack it,” she said.

ECONOMY Vs. ECOLOGY
Divozzo acknowledges the apparent conflict of interest, but said the DPW member is one of the best on the board.
Larry Copley, chairman of the county board, said low rates helped keep the companies competitive.
“I know a lot of people feel that industry might be the source for the pollution, and the managers should pay for it,” Copley said. “But with international competition like it is, we could drive our industries right out of that area. So it’s economy against ecology, and I think you can have both, and that’s what I’m trying to work toward.”
(Hayes-Lemmerz recently had their sand declared inert and are dumping it in a large pit for free near town.)
It all comes down to trust
Copley believes that the landfill could be a “very profitable venture for the county.”
“There’s land enough to run another 40 to 50 years. The nine-county issue is emotional, but they’ll provide additional funding,” Copley said. “We’re also toying with the idea of a perpetual landfill. If you run one properly it’s like fermenting sauerkraut. Other than the solid material, biodegradable stuff would all go away. You dig out the old cell, take the solids out and it keeps on going forever and ever.”
Indeed, the landfill was profitable in the past, with interest money going toward a new county courthouse, a self-insurance program, and emergency radio equipment.
Commissioner Jay Thiebaut believes the landfill won’t be solvent even with the increase to $30 per ton, which he believes is too high. He said additional business is required to break even.
“If we were providing a good service, taking care of the waste water groundwater contamination, and the half dozen residents that are currently affected, everybody won’t have to have those gigantic rates. I think that’s the goal. Everyone can coexist a lot better.”

RUINED PROPERTY VALUES
Yet many Cedar Creek residents aren’t in the mood to co-exist with the garbage of nine other counties. Some are still feeling bitter about the new freeway going up a stone’s throw form their backyards (another factor that devalued their property).
Wilson predicts nearby county haulers will flood the landfill because its rates are still much lower. And that’s troubling because the freeway runs so close to their homes. Waste haulers will tear up the freeway, pollute the air, and bring in unmonitored waste, she said.
The county has already cost taxpayers millions of dollars to fix a problem they were warned about early on, not to mention ruined property values. One property owner, she said, needs to go to college, but can’t sell his house.
“One family has tumors, even the dog has tumors (although they don’t know if it’s connected to the contaminated groundwater). There’s another, the children’s friends don’t want to come over and play anymore. Can you imagine having young children here? The EPA stuff says you can’t shower in it, it can be ingested in your lungs and through the skin.”
Wilson wants the county to clean up the site before considering added trash of surrounding counties.
Divozzo, however, feels that once the entire 36-acre site is lined (currently 16 acres are unlined), the landfill will be up to standard. He said it is safe to shower at the levels found so far. Divozzo also believes that more household waste is needed to absorb the large amount of industrial waste -- otherwise it’s expensive to recapture in the leachate collection. And unlike past decades, there will be oversight by numerous bodies and regulations.
But Wilson isn’t buying it.
“They had the money all along to do the right thing,” she said. “I know sins of the past are to be forgotten, but we’re fearful. It just terrifies me to think of these families and future families. We’ve all been disappointed.”
With the two sides butting heads, perhaps it’s time to think more creatively, advised Kelly Ignace, resource recovery manager for Grand Traverse County.
“A landfill can be a real money-maker,” she said. “Perhaps some of that money can be set aside to enhance the Cedar Creek community or to create a fund for those who have lost property value.”

* Glen’s Landfill charges for trash by the cubic yard: $18.82 for Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee and Kalkaska counties, and $21.72 for Grand Traverse. One cubic yard equals an average of 900 pounds, according to a landfill employee.