Dive Brief:
- Advanced Disposal, owner of Michigan's Arbor Hills Landfill, has filed a legal motion against Republic Services requesting compliance of a recent judgment issued by the Washtenaw County Circuit. The judgment ruled Advanced is not responsible for an apparently faulty gas collection and control system at the landfill, which is causing neighbors to complain of pungent gas odors. The system is owned by Republic.
- Advanced has requested the court step in and order Republic to control the gas, and that it stipulate specific actions and dates to get the job done. However Russ Knocke, a spokesman for of Republic division Allied/BFI, denied its system is responsible because when the company became aware of the odor, it replaced and improved wells ahead of schedule. Republic said it is prepared to fight Advanced Disposal's claims.
- "The undisputable truth is that no one—not Allied, BFI, Advanced, or the MDEQ—knows yet what caused the odors, or if there were multiple causes of some or all of the odors," Knocke said, as reported in Michigan Live.
Dive Insight:
"Our number one priority has been to address the landfill gas odors impacting our neighbors around the landfill. All other alternatives to force Republic Services to comply with their contractual obligations have been unsuccessful," stated Dave Lavender, east region vice president of Advanced in a press release.
But there is no documentation in Advanced's motion correlating the odors with the gas collection and control system owned by Allied and BFI, Knocke argued.
The issue of landfill odors has affected many communities across the nation, but especially in Michigan. Last month, a Michigan House bill was proposed to hike landfill operators' fines for illegal odors, with first and second violations increasing from $10,000 and $25,000 to $20,000 and $40,000, respectively. This bill was prompted by stinky issues at the Orchard Hill Landfill in Coloma.
Advanced has been and continues to work with the state and local government to resolve the issue.
