Attorney General Press Release
July 31, 2006
LANSING - Attorney General Mike Cox announced today a lawsuit in Ingham
County Circuit Court against J. Fons Company and Daniel P. Fons regarding
contamination at the former Sanicem Landfill in Auburn Hills.
"Non-regulated landfills created prior to today's landfill requirements have
caused serious environmental problems in Michigan, with the generation of
methane gas often a hazardous result," said Cox. "We must take steps to hold
those who would put our citizens at risk accountable for their actions."
The Attorney General's office, in conjunction with the Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ), filed the lawsuit on July 31, 2006. The lawsuit
seeks to compel the former owners and operators of the Sanicem Landfill to: 1)
comply with a June 16, 2005 Administrative Order (AO), 2) properly close the
landfill and clean up off-site contamination, 3) reimburse the state its past
and future response activity costs, and 4) pay civil fines.
The Defendants were ordered in the AO to address explosive concentrations of
methane discovered under buildings adjacent to the landfill. Methane (a
colorless, odorless, flammable gas) was found traveling from the landfill
through the soil. Decomposition of waste in the landfill is producing methane
gas, posing a potentially serious public health and safety risk. The DEQ took
steps to alleviate the known methane threat when the Defendants failed to take
action, resulting in the expenditure of public money. However, much more work
needs to be done to remedy the methane problem and other environmental concerns
at the landfill, including contaminated liquids, or leachate, leaking out of the
landfill refuse, and suspected groundwater contamination.
Under the state's environmental clean up law (Part 201 of the Natural Resources
and Environmental Protection Act), the Defendants have an affirmative obligation
to remediate contamination they caused. Failure to perform a clean up,
especially pursuant to an order, subjects parties to civil fines of up to
$25,000 for each day of violation. Subsequent owners and operators of
contaminated property are not responsible for the clean up if they disclose a
baseline environmental assessment to the DEQ that distinguishes existing
pollution from any potential future release of contamination.
The Defendants operated the Landfill located on nearly 70 acres from 1969 to
1978, prior to laws requiring engineered landfills. The northern 40 acres are
along Lapeer Rd. in Orion Charter Township with the remainder in the city of
Auburn Hills. The property is now owned by a developer wishing to redevelop the
landfill for light industrial use.
For more information, contact Rusty Hills or Nate Bailey, Attorney General's
Office, at (517) 373-8060.
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