Sludge Watch ==> Toronto - your sludge is oozing at the Michigan Landfill

[Maureen Reilly]

Tuesday, October 03, 2006


Official aims to stop sludge shipments
State Rep. Law urges DEQ to keep company from resuming sewage waste business 
at Carleton Farms landfill.

Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News
SUMPTER TOWNSHIP -- 

Bubbling sludge leaking from the Carleton Farms landfill has spurred a call 
from state Democrats to ban future shipments of sewage waste to the dump.
After The Detroit News ran reports of volcano-like fissures oozing sludge at 
the landfill, state Rep. Kathleen Law sent a letter to the Michigan 
Department of Environmental Quality last week urging the agency to deny any 
efforts by owner Republic Services Inc. to resume the sewage business.
The company agreed to stop accepting sludge -- semi-solid waste -- Aug. 1 as 
part of an expansion deal with state and Wayne County regulators. Since 
then, neighbors and county officials say cracks have developed, spilling 
treated human waste downhill.
A clause in the deal between Republic and the state allows the landfill to 
apply for permission to resume sludge shipments as soon as Nov. 1. The 
possibility is repugnant to neighbors who say the odors have become 
unbearable, Law said.
"Everything about this landfill has turned negative," said Law, D-Gibraltar.
Last week, Republic officials said the problems were being fixed. Bob 
McCann, spokesman for the DEQ, said the state isn't considering any requests 
by the landfill that has buried as much as 360,000 tons annually from 15 
communities for the past few years.
You can reach Christine Ferretti at (734) 462-2289 or cferretti at detnews.com

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061003/METRO01/610030318/1003/METRO