March 31, 2004

The Department of Attorney General, on behalf of the Department of Environmental Quality, has filed a civil lawsuit against King of the Wind Farms, Inc. (KOTW) located in Macomb Township, Macomb County. The complaint, filed Monday, March 29, alleges that KOTW violated several environmental statutes related to air pollution control, water resource protection, and solid waste management requirements resulting from the mismanagement of its composting facility. The complaint requests that the court order KOTW to comply with the various environmental regulations, operate the compost facility in a manner such that it doesn’t cause a nuisance, and pay appropriate civil fines for the violations.

Since March 2003, the DEQ has received and logged over 400 complaints of foul odors emanating from the Macomb Township facility. Staff continued to receive numerous complaints on a weekly basis. On nine separate occasions, the DEQ staff has observed and documented odorous conditions sufficient to unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property in violation of Michigan’s Air Pollution Control rules. DEQ staff has also sampled storm water discharges from the KOTW facility that have demonstrated water contaminants at levels potentially injurious to waters of the state. In addition, KOTW has on two separate occasions placed material in a floodplain without prior authorization from the DEQ. Previous DEQ attempts to resolve these issues with KOTW amicably have failed to produce an agreement.

“I applaud staff’s efforts in investigating this issue,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. “Our agency must take the lead in protecting Michigan’s air and water to ensure that facilities such as this one are not a nuisance to the surrounding community.”

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at http://www.deq.state.mi.us.

Revised March 31, 2004 by Pat Watson