On March 12, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) issued a formal notice to the Smiths Creek Landfill, indicating its intention to pursue escalated enforcement measures in response to ongoing concerns at the facility. The landfill is required to provide a response to this notice by March 26, 2024, within 10 business days of its issuance. The prescribed response entails the landfill expressing its willingness to engage with EGLE in discussions regarding the proposed enforcement actions.
What is an Administrative Consent Order?
The email dispatched to the landfill does not constitute the consent order; rather, it serves as notification of EGLE’s intent to pursue escalated enforcement via a consent order without outlining specific requirements.
A consent order represents a legally binding agreement between the landfill and EGLE, detailing mutually agreed-upon terms. This document will describe compliance deadlines and associated fees as part of the agreed-upon arrangement.
How Long Does It Take
While the Township acknowledges EGLE’s initiative, its response is tempered for two primary reasons:
1. Uncertainty persists regarding the specific conditions outlined in the agreement, including compliance timelines.
2. The timeframe required for finalizing and implementing the consent order remains unclear.
Given that a consent agreement involves negotiation between both parties, the process may extend over several months before reaching a definitive resolution.
With the landfill already experiencing issues for several months, any solution that takes several months to negotiate and then even longer to have compliance is concerning. We hope that the odor issues and gas releases can be resolved prior to an agreement being reached.
