Michigan lawmakers urge EGLE to reopen public comment on Romulus waste site

Romulus — Three Metro Detroit congressional representatives asked the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to reopen public comment on the operating license renewal for a hazardous waste site in Romulus that recently received toxic waste from an Ohio train derailment.

Republic Industrial and Energy Services LLC’s hazardous waste site in Romulus has the only injection wells in Michigan licensed for hazardous waste removal. Around 15% of the solid waste and about 7% of the liquid waste from a train derailment in February in East Palestine, Ohio, was disposed of at the Romulus site and U.S. Ecology Wayne Disposal in Belleville.

Democratic Reps. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor and Rashida Tlaib and Shri Thanedar urged EGLE to reopen the public feedback window in a letter Friday.

Local authorities and elected officials were not notified about the disposal of toxic waste from East Palestine in Romulus until after Norfolk Southern railway company and Republic Industrial and Energy Services had reached an agreement, they said in the letter.

"Working closely with the Governor’s Office, EGLE officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, we were able to act quickly to halt further shipments and return truckloads of hazardous waste to Ohio," the lawmakers wrote. "But this experience has clearly demonstrated that there is an urgent need for further public discourse about how and where we dispose of toxic and hazardous waste."

Notices were provided to the required state legislators and congressional members via letters and follow-up phone calls on Jan. 31, 2023, EGLE said.

Republic submitted a license renewal application to EGLE in April 2021, which does not include permits for the facility's underground injection wells. EGLE is in the process of reviewing the application. The facility is licensed to accept hazardous industrial wastewater that is corrosive and store hazardous waste in above-ground containers and treat it in tanks indoors.

The window for public comment on the site's license renewal lasted from Dec. 30, 2022, to Feb. 16, 2023, said Hugh McDiarmid Jr., a spokesman for EGLE. During this time they received no public comments on the relicensing of the Romulus site.

The public notice period was announced to EGLE's hazardous waste mailing list, which has 1,350 recipients, on Dec. 30. A notice was also put on EGLE's website and calendar notices were sent out on Nov. 30, 2022, and Jan. 26, 2023. And a newspaper notice about the public comment period was also sent out on Dec. 29, 2022, and a public webinar was held at the Romulus Public Library on Feb. 1, 2023.

A public informational meeting was held virtually in December before EGLE reviewed the licensing application and before the public comment period began, EGLE said.

Dingell, Tlaib and Thanedar said they learned about the license renewal application days after they found out about the disposal of toxic waste from the East Palestine train derailment in Michigan. They also learned that the public comment period had already closed and said robust public discussion and debate were not provided during the past few months.

"Though some state elected officials were informed about the public hearing, many of the first responders who are most impacted by the renewal application were not aware and not able to provide comment," the lawmakers said. "Notification of public comment periods and public hearings on topics this controversial must be widespread, and must include a more comprehensive outreach strategy engaging all local leaders in the surrounding region."

The Romulus site has been controversial for decades, and Dingell, Tlaib and Thanedar said they remain concerned about the health and environmental risks posed by its operation. It was first authorized to handle hazardous waste material in 2005 but was closed by the EPA from 2006-11 under a different owner after violations allowed hazardous waste to escape.

The facility's previous owner, Environmental Geo-Technologies Inc., also was fined more than $20,000 by the EPA in 2018 for allegedly violating the hazardous waste law. The alleged violations included failure to close and label containers, and a lack of adequate leak detection systems.

Republic purchased the facility in 2019, and EPA records show potential violations from as recently as last summer. An EGLE inspector reported the Romulus site did not identify or label waste adequately or meet tank system or facility inspection requirements in July.

The Republic site still is listed as a "significant non-complier" in the EPA's enforcement database, but EGLE confirmed that the alleged violations had been addressed by a follow-up inspection in October and did not result in the release of pollution. EGLE is in the process of developing a consent order to determine possible penalties and fines that may be imposed on Republic.

Kevin Krause, Romulus' director of community safety and development, previously told The Detroit News the most recent violations were administrative and said they do not give him reason to worry about the facility's safety.

Romulus originally opposed the creation of the wells.

"We strongly urge EGLE to reopen and extend the public comment period for this facility, as well as hold another public hearing on its approval with a stronger communication plan for the Romulus community and surrounding region,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote in the letter. 

hmackay@detroitnews.com