Lucy Road Landfill (Howell, Livingston County)

Rebecca Taylor, TaylorR@Michigan.gov or 517-294-5160.

Please note that this landfill is CLOSED and does not accept waste. 

Lucy Road Landfill is located on Lucy Road south of Grand River Avenue and spans approximately 40-acres. The landfill was in operation from 1950's to 1974 and accepted industrial wastes, which included liquid wastes associated with a plastic film manufacturer. After the landfill closed operations, the City of Howell partnered with the plastics manufacturer to conduct soil removal, waste drum removal, and installed monitoring wells at multiple depths to locate groundwater contamination. PFAS was not included in the groundwater monitoring. In July 2022, EGLE sampled 17 monitor wells for PFAS.

A portion of the contaminated groundwater flows southwesterly and enters Marion-Genoa Drain headwater wetlands. On the north side of the landfill, groundwater flows to the northeast because of constant pumping by the MDOT sump under a railroad underpass at Grand River Avenue to prevent flooding. The MDOT sump acts as a purge well, capturing area groundwater, discharging to Thompson Lake. PFOA and PFOS are above drinking water and water quality values in monitoring wells where groundwater moves towards the sump.

Content posted October 2022.

Residential wells are located south of the site on the east side of Lucy Road. The adjacent property owner has granted permission to sample their drinking water well which is used for utility purposes; bottled water is available for employees. Residents on the west side of Lucy Road are connected to municipal water from Marion Township. Genoa Township businesses and residents on the east side of Lucy Road currently do not have access to a municipal water supply. EGLE, DHHS, and the local health department will continue to evaluate drinking water wells in the area.

EGLE will sample one business and one residential well if access is granted. EGLE will collect surface water samples for PFAS at the wetlands on the property when the wetland is not dry. EGLE will sample the MDOT sump outfall at the same time as wetland sampling. EGLE will ask the City of Howell to conduct annual groundwater monitoring at the landfill.