WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Neighbors in Macomb County want to know why the city of Warren is considering a plan to burn waste with the cancer-causing forever chemicals known as PFAS in it.
So far, the state of Michigan has told the city they can’t do it. But some Warren officials say it’s the best option for the taxpayers and the environment.
It’s no secret the mayor of Warren and a large portion of the council do not get along, and now some council members are upset because of what was in the fine print of a deal recently passed: a plan to burn PFAS. And that plan even has people in surrounding communities worried.
“I've got enough to worry about as a dad, I do not want any harm to come to my kids,” said Matthew Smith.
Smith just wants to keep his family healthy. The chemist and father of three is a Sterling Heights resident. He lives just 2 miles from the Warren wastewater treatment plant that's located near 14 Mile and Van Dyke.
Now Smith is concerned that his neighboring city is considering a plan to upgrade their incinerator and burn waste that contains PFAS.
“That material, if it did fall out, that's accumulating in the soil, the plants-- the things that my family are playing on,” Smith told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
“The risk is that people would be exposed either through the deposition or through the emissions from these incinerators,” said Denise Trabbic-Pointer, a Toxics and Remediation Specialist with the Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter.
“It's just insidious. It's detrimental to everybody's health, and certainly to children and women of childbearing years,” said Trabbic-Pointer.
Last week, members of Warren’s city council say they learned that Mayor Jim Fouts’ administration had taken the State of Michigan to court without telling the council.
“The process is that city council has the authority to start a lawsuit. Not the administration, not the mayor,” said Warren City Council President Patrick Green.
Green says he now believes the city’s administration snuck this project past the council back in May.
“It was a one-page letter and it said, we want to apply for a grant, and we want to get money to improve our facilities and there's grant money available. And we said, ‘Great, go get the money,” said Green.
Green says the council was never supplied a 254-page document that outlines the true intent of the nearly $75 million plan: to burn waste containing PFAS.
“When you’re trying to hide something that's environmentally potentially damaging to all our communities around here, that leads to questions of what are you guys trying to get away with this? This just smacks of conspiracy,” said Green.
The state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) denied the city’s request for a grant and other state money for 2023, saying their Air Quality Division “has concerns” with the proposed Warren Incinerator project because the process is “novel” and more research needs to be done.
The city tried to appeal the state’s decision, arguing they’d already spent $2.7 million designing the incinerator project with cutting-edge technology.
Bryan Clor is the in the Division Head of the Warren Water Recovery Facility.
“None of the pollutants of concern that the EPA or the state worries about will even leave our plant property. So it'll be no risk to public,” said Clor.
But when pressed on how he could be certain there’s no risk, Clor could not say for certain there’s zero risk to residents – but he maintained the process is safe because of how the incinerator works. He also said the new incineration process will be safer than applying the treated waste to the land, which is what happens now.
“We have not violated the emission regulations that we currently have. And the new emission regulations will be even tougher,” said Clor.
But EGLE told Clor that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has indicated that more research is needed to gain a better understanding of PFAS, and has also “indicated [that] of any current destruction and disposal technology, sewage sludge incinerators have the highest level of uncertainty regarding their capacity to manage the migration of PFAS into the environment.”
Clor said the city posted notices for a public meeting on the project but admitted they could have done a better job explaining what the project about. The item was posted only as “Warren 2022 SRF Project Plan Draft” and said nothing about the incineration of PFAS. Clor said no one showed up at the public meeting.
After the appeal within EGLE failed, the city of Warren took the state to court. Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Richard Caretti denied Warren’s request for a Temporary Restraining Order against the state. A full hearing will be held on October 19.
Tuesday night, the council voted 5-2 to halt litigation and the incinerator project.