Commission on the Environment Considers Amendment for Expansion of Granger Waste Services Clinton County Landfill
The City of East Lansing’s Commission on the Environment gathered Monday (Oct. 17) at the Hannah Community Center where they spent the majority of the meeting discussing an amendment to waste management restrictions placed on Granger Waste Services.
Of the hour and half meeting, more than half the time was dedicated to dissecting a recent request from Clinton County Waste Management Coordinator Kate Neese to the City of East Lansing and other county municipalities. Neese was requesting approval of an amendment to the County’s Part 115 Solid Waste Management Plan, which would allow Granger Waste Services to, first, import solid waste from Branch County into its Clinton County landfill facility, in addition to the counties already utilizing the space.
The second, and arguably more significant, part of the amendment prepares for expansion of Granger’s current landfill in Clinton County. At the 180.9-acre Grand River Avenue Landfill operated by Granger, only 120.9 acres are currently “sited for use,” and only 85.7 of those acres are actually permitted for active landfill use. According to Granger, “sited for use” means the property has “the potential for waste management activities.”
Commissioners question what the impact will be for East Lansing residents.
Granger and Clinton County are requesting to designate the remaining 60-acre area — a once active part of the landfill closed in the 1980s — as “sited for use” in order to “enable further discussions” regarding future development. Granger emphasizes in the request that this is a preliminary step in a longer process, with the conclusion of any actual landfill site nine to 14 years out.
It will ultimately be the East Lansing City Council that will decide by Dec. 1 whether or not to support the amendment. The Commission on the Environment will act in an advisory role.
At the meeting on Monday, commission members raised concerns about what the direct impacts of the amendment are for City of East Lansing residents. Although the landfill is located more than 15 miles from East Lansing on the western edge of Clinton County, East Lansing does still utilize the disposal site.
Looking forward, members moved to request additional clarification regarding impacts on residents and environmental factors be provided to City Council prior to a decision being made. Ideally, commissioners said, the information will be provided by a representative from Clinton County or Granger who could respond to direct questions. For the amendment to pass, 67% of Clinton County’s municipalities must approve the amendment.
Tour of water plant will include seeing the new anaerobic water digester.
The Commission on the Environment concluded the meeting by finalizing plans to tour East Lansing’s Water Resource Recovery Facility, the highlight of which is a new anaerobic water digester. The digester uses anaerobic bacteria to ferment waste water, capturing the methane byproduct in a large dome, which can then be used to further power the plant.
EL’s Environmental Sustainability & Resilience Manager Cliff Walls said that aside from reducing methane emissions, once the digester is fully operational, the city expects savings of $.5 million per year in energy cost, as well as a reduction of land waste by 50%.
The Commission on the Environment will meet again on Nov. 20. To learn more about the proposed amendments to Clinton County’s Solid Waste Management Plan, head here.