DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – Despite ceasing shipments of hazardous waste from the aftermath of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio to Michigan, other toxic materials are still coming into the state.  

Public outcry in response to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s announcement that large dump trucks would be transporting in excess of 4,800 yards of contaminated soils from the derailment site to US Ecology’s Wayne Disposal hazardous waste landfill in Van Buren Township have halted shipments.  

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At a Monday conference, Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore identified three EPA certified waste disposal facilities in Ohio that would accept liquid and solid wastes. 

“We had promised to notify elected officials and our state agency partners before approving the shipment of any derailment waste to their state or district, and we have done that,” she said.

Officials from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) provided a statement to the Detroit Free Press about how notifying states regarding incoming waste is not essential. 

“The landfill and injection well facilities regularly handle both Michigan and out-of-state hazardous waste,” the release stated, “Federal and state statutes require detailed manifests of deliveries be kept, but no requirement to notify state or local officials of individual shipments that arrive or are processed.”

While prohibiting other states from sending hazardous wastes to Michigan landfills and disposal facilities, is usually forbidden according to an early 1990s U.S. Supreme Court decision about imported garbage, there are some ways to deter other states from dumping goods here. 

“If Michigan wants to restrict imported waste, it can raise its fees, make it more expensive to import these materials, or not permit or license those waste-receiving facilities in the first place,” according to Nicholas Shroeck, an associate professor of law at the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Law. 

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Senator Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown) has acknowledged he did not receive any notification of the transferring of the Ohio waste products, and pledged to take action in the Michigan Legislature to require “local and state officials know what is being sent to hazardous waste facilities.”  

State Representative Jim DeSana (R-Carleton) also voiced his frustration with how communication regarding the waste products has gone. 

“These hazardous materials from the train disaster in Ohio should not be forced on the Downriver community. I am vehemently opposed to this poorly communicated move that took local leaders and residents by surprise,” DeSana said in a statement, “I’ve been in touch with Mayor McCraight and will work closely with him to monitor the situation and protect our community. I will be demanding answers from those responsible for this decision — including the Environmental Protection Agency.”