US halts hazardous waste shipments to Michigan from Ohio after court decision

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The federal government has paused the shipment of hazardous waste from Ohio to a Michigan landfill after a judge’s ruling in a separate case suspended waste shipments from New York state, officials said on Friday.

For several years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been transporting hazardous materials from Luckey, Ohio, a site where beryllium, a toxic metal, was once produced for military and industrial purposes after World War II. Cleanup efforts at the location have been underway for an extended period.

Wayne Disposal, a landfill located approximately 25 miles west of Detroit in Van Buren County, is one of the few facilities in the U.S. that is equipped to manage specific types of hazardous waste.

The decision to pause Ohio shipments came after a Detroit-area judge issued a temporary order blocking the transfer of low-level radioactive waste from Lewiston, New York, to the same Michigan landfill. Nearby communities voiced concerns about the risks associated with this type of waste. A court hearing is scheduled for September 26 to review the case.

In light of the judge’s ruling, the Army Corps, which also oversees the Lewiston site, decided to halt the Ohio shipments while assessing the court’s decision, according to spokesperson Avery Schneider.

Canton Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak, who was previously unaware of the Ohio waste being sent to Wayne Disposal, welcomed the pause and said, “That’s good.”

Republic Services, the operator of the Michigan landfill, has emphasized that it complies with all necessary safety standards in managing hazardous materials.

So far, no waste from New York has been transported to Michigan. The soil contamination in Lewiston traces back to the Manhattan Project, the classified U.S. government program responsible for developing atomic bombs during World War II.

The Fostoria Free Press has been closely following the ongoing issues at Fostoria’s Win Waste Sunny Farms Landfill. We stand firmly committed to doing everything in our power to keep out-of-state waste from being brought into our community.