US resumes hazardous waste shipments to Michigan landfill from Ohio
The federal government has resumed sending hazardous waste to a Michigan landfill from Ohio while communities in suburban Detroit continue their legal fight against waste from New York
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A federal agency said it has resumed sending hazardous waste to a Michigan landfill from Ohio while communities in suburban Detroit continue their legal fight to bar waste from a World War II-era site in New York.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been sending material from Luckey, Ohio, where beryllium, a toxic metal, was produced for weapons and other uses after World War II.
The effort stopped last week when a Detroit-area judge signed an order that temporarily freezes plans for the landfill to accept low-level radioactive waste from Lewiston, New York.
Wayne County Judge Kevin Cox amended his order Tuesday to limit the decision to Lewiston and clear up any ambiguity. The next hearings are scheduled for early October.
Wayne Disposal in Van Buren Township, 25 miles (40.23 kilometers) west of Detroit, is one of the few landfills in the U.S. that can handle certain hazardous waste.
“We have resumed safely shipping material” from Ohio to Michigan, said Avery Schneider, an Army Corps spokesman.
Republic Services, which operates the Michigan landfill, said it meets or exceeds rules to safely manage hazardous materials.
Nothing has been sent yet to Michigan from New York. Tainted soil in Lewiston is a legacy of the Manhattan Project, the secret government project to develop atomic bombs during World War II.