DETROIT (WXYZ) — Liz Browne with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy gave a presentation to Wayne County commissioners on the Health and Human Services Committee.
She discussed how hazardous waste is currently allowed to be handled in Michigan.
Browne, EGLE's material management division director, spoke on regulations of facilities like those in Romulus and Belleville. Hazardous waste from February's Ohio train derailment was slated to be disposed at to those sites.
“I know there’s been a lot of concern about why no one was notified about the Ohio waste shipments," Browne told commissioners.
In light of the Ohio train derailment, Nick Schroeck, a law professor at Detroit Mercy Law School, testified that Ohio sends the most waste to Michigan.
“This waste is being transported every day. It’s been treated and disposed of at these facilities right here in Wayne County," he said.
"I think that was shocking for a lot of people, especially when they heard about the waste from East Palestine train derailment coming here and that there really isn’t notification to our local units of government. Yeah, that’s shocking to a lot of people and I hope that that’s something that we might be able to change," Schroeck added.
He said that might take federal legislation.
Also, Schroek said a more aggressive approach to permitting and licensing hazardous waste facilities is needed because once they are, it’s harder to shut them down.
“So this is (an) environmental justice issue for sure," said Rhonda Anderson, organizer of support and a manager with the Sierra Club.
She takes issue with facilities being able to self-monitor and says even when state or federal regulators make a site visit, proper tools are needed to properly detect pollutants.
“Anything that’s going to produce toxic emissions, contaminated water, contaminated soil, there’s needs to be forethought about these things. When injection wells, polluting industry happens to come about, we have to always be on guard," Anderson explained.
In a statement to 7 Action News, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said the following:
“The health and safety of Wayne County residents will always be my primary concern. The Commission hearings offered experts the space to speak to the limitations in current laws and policies pertaining to toxic waste and disposal in local communities that limit the voices of residents to speak up and to speak out. And that’s why upcoming public discussions are so important. They’ll allow residents who live in the County to have a direct voice in discussions that they have historically been left out of.”
