Wayne Disposal Site 1 Landfill (Belleville, Wayne County)

Christine Matlock, MatlockC2@Michigan.gov or 517-290-4612.

Please note that the site in this writeup is adjacent to an active landfill. They can be contacted at (734)-697-2200.

Wayne Disposal Site 1 Landfill located at 49350 North I-94 Service Drive, is an old closed landfill currently owned by US Ecology (USE), and adjacent to the currently operational Wayne Disposal Hazardous Waste Landfill, also owned by USE. The landfill has a natural clay liner and has been retrofitted with a series of pumping wells that serve as the leachate collection system. Due to the facility being a closed landfill, operational prior to any hazardous waste regulations, and known to have accepted both industrial and municipal waste, PFAS was determined to be potentially present. Therefore, samples of both landfill leachate and groundwater were collected and analyzed for PFAS in 2019. Leachate from the landfill is collected and sent for treatment at an off-site wastewater treatment plant and is therefore being addressed separately from the groundwater outside the landfill.

Site geology/hydrogeology consists of a surficial sand unit approximately 15 to 20 feet thick that overlies a clay layer that is approximately 50 to 60 feet in thickness. Below the clay is a silt/fine sand unit that extends to bedrock. Groundwater is present in both the surficial sand unit and the silt/fine sand unit below the clay. It should be noted that, due to landfill construction, the surficial sand unit has been physically removed at some locations.

The site is located in the Huron River watershed; the Huron River is located south of the facility, and groundwater flow is generally to the south towards the Huron River. In the area where PFAS were detected, flow in the shallow sand unit is assumed to be to the south toward a local creek that is a tributary to the Huron River, although limited information is available to confirm this assumption.

Content posted August 2020.

The closest residential well that EGLE is aware of is in a deeper aquifer than the contamination on this site. EGLE is working with the local health department to determine if there are any other residential wells nearby.

The PFAS sampling and contamination was conducted as part of corrective action activities at the facility. EGLE will be requiring additional steps regrading PFAS delineation and fate/transport from the facility.