WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – Last week, Local 4 told you about the new plans to bring part of the “Manhattan Project,” where the atomic bomb was created in the state of New York, to a landfill in Wayne County.
On Tuesday (Aug. 27), residents pushed back at a public meeting held by the Wayne County Commission and attended by members of Congress.
We were there for the entire meeting, and it’s clear that many residents are concerned about what’s coming to Wayne County.
Wayne County commissioners and other state leaders talked for hours discussing the incoming nuclear waste that’s both hazardous and radioactive heading to a landfill in Van Buren Township.
Multiple state officials, such as Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Representative Rashida Tlaib, were present as well but were not happy that no one was notified about the waste transfer.
However, Wayne County Commissioner Chair Alisha Bell was outside the meeting and was not obligated to notify local officials about the plan that’s now in place.
“We all found out about it in the media, which we had talked about last year during the East Palestine incident that we wanted to be notified when trash was coming, especially toxic trash was coming into Wayne County, and yet again, the same notification happened through the media,” said Bell. “Not through EGLE, not through the federal government, but from the newspapers. So just put one notification, and we want to stop it if we can and let our citizens know that we’re concerned about their safety.”
While people are concerned, it’s important to note that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says three million shipments of radioactive material are shipped in the U.S. annually.
So, this isn’t out of the ordinary. Five landfills, including the one in Van Buren Township, can take this type of nuclear waste across the country.