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Oakland Heights Development Landfill (Auburn Hills, Oakland County)

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Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.

EGLE site lead

Jim Bakun, BakunJ@Michigan.gov or 586-753-3834.

Waste Disposal Questions

Oakland Heights Development Landfill: 248-373-2334

Background

Oakland Heights Development Landfill (OHD), located at 2350 Brown Road in Oakland County, is an open, licensed municipal solid waste facility owned by Republic Services, Inc. The OHD Landfill consists of 200+ acres divided into several smaller individual cells, which accepted waste over the lifespan of the facility. Initially, the landfill consisted of a phase I cell, followed by cells A-F, with the facility currently filling in cell F, located in the northeast corner of the site.

OHD has a monitoring program that consists of groundwater monitoring wells and surface water monitoring points that are required to be sampled in compliance with Part 115. As part of EGLE's investigation of potential sources PFAS in the groundwaters of the state, EGLE requested OHD collect groundwater samples for PFAS analysis.

The groundwater flow direction at OHD is generally to the south, although the gradient, or slope of the groundwater as it flows across the site, is relatively shallow/flat. With such a flat groundwater slope at the site, the movement of groundwater can be relatively slow, even in porous material such as sand and gravel, which makes up a considerable portion of the geology beneath the OHD landfill. Because of the sand and gravel geology at the site, however, groundwater can still move and potential off-site migration of PFAS is possible. There are several drinking water wells located nearby.

Content posted August 2020.

Drinking water

EGLE is working with the local health department to determine a future residential well sampling plan.

Anticipated activities

EGLE will be requesting additional PFAS sampling at OHD to further identify the extent of PFAS in the groundwater at the landfill.

Historical timeline

    • On August 8, 2019, Republic Services, Inc., collected groundwater samples from eight on-site monitoring wells for PFAS analysis. 
    • On October 28, 2019 EGLE received the sample results from the August 2019 sampling event.  Three monitor wells (MW-8, MW-20R, and MW-31SR) exceeded Part 201 Criteria for PFOA. The highest result was 22 ppt PFOA in monitoring well MW-20R.

      Sampling Results Summary: PFOS and PFOA Only

      Type of Sample

      Date Sampled (or Range)

      Numberof Sample Results Received

      Number of Samples Above PFOS Criteria

      Number of Samples Above PFOA Criteria

      Groundwater

      August 8, 2019 8 0 3
      Cumulative 8 0 3
      *Groundwater results are compared to EGLE Part 201 Criteria of 70 ppt PFOS+PFOA.

      Sampling Notes

      • None at this time.