City official: major landfill remediation projects moving toward cleanup as EGLE grant deadline looms
Loading...
Summary
Tom Wackerman, the city—s longtime ASTI consultant, told council on Feb. 3 that two of the city—s largest EGLE-funded remediation projects have moved toward remediation and site-plan review, raising questions about multi‑million-dollar remedy requests and the timeline for using $75 million in grant funds.
Tom Wackerman, the city—s longtime consultant with ASTI, told the Rochester Hills City Council on Feb. 3 that the city—s Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) restoration/remediation grant (Grant No. 2023-2540) is moving from assessment toward remediation work at its two largest sites.
Wackerman said the Hamlin Road landfill and the Highland Woodfill (Highland Park Woodfill) have advanced to site-plan review and that remediation plans and development agreements are being prepared simultaneously. "We—re now gonna start engaging you a lot more than we have because we—re moving to the remediation phase in our two biggest projects," he said.
Why it matters: The projects include very large funding requests that the grant committee has not yet approved; Wackerman said the city has received requests totaling about $61 million of the $75 million available under the grant and that the committee has held back two large requests (a $50 million remediation request for Madison Park/Hamlin Road and a prior $9 million request later increased to $17 million for Highland Woodfill) pending fuller site-plan review and clearer remedies.
Wackerman described steps the city has taken to move projects forward: completed work plans for several sites (work plan 1 done, work plan 2 field work underway at some locations), a submitted work plan 3 to investigate the cap at Hamlin (a geotechnical investigation), and access agreements or easement work in progress at other properties. "Work plans number 1 and 2, the field work is still being done on work plan number 2. Work plan number 1 is completed. And they have submitted a work plan number 3 for investigation of the cap," he said.
Council questions focused on scale, local impacts and notice to residents. Councilman Walker noted an apparent combined funding need for Madison Park that could approach $100 million when TIF and other sources are added. Wackerman responded: "That's theoretically correct. They haven—t made a request yet [for TIF]. That comes from some documents that were attached to their application." He said site-plan review will be used to flush out what exactly would be built "and in return for what?"
Orders of action, approvals and deadlines: Wackerman said the committee set an internal July 1 review date to reassess projects and priorities ahead of the grant—s formal Sept. 2027 deadline. He also said the city is pursuing an EGLE grant extension; "we're hoping to have a decision on the extended grant deadline by March 1," he said. Council members pressed Wackerman for copies of off-site migration notifications sent to property owners near Madison Park and Hamlin Road; he said notices were sent to adjacent owners and that the city would provide copies.
Technical risks and regulatory context: Wackerman raised several open technical and regulatory questions the city is monitoring, including EGLE—s forthcoming methane policy (which could limit residential development near methane-producing landfills), potential eligibility of foundation costs under the grant for some sites, and the statewide EGLE PFAS investigation that may provide data relevant to local sites.
Budget snapshot: Wackerman summarized grant accounting: of $75 million available, roughly $2.8 million had been approved for completed items, about $2 million approved in work plans, and about $69 million remained unallocated pending further reviews. He said the committee had received approximately $61 million in requests. "We are very concerned about how we're gonna make this grant work in the short amount of time," he said.
What council directed: There was no formal city action to allocate the large remediation sums Wackerman described; council members repeatedly asked for more detail, documentation of notices to property owners (including Lake Village), and clarity on easements and consent judgments. Wackerman and staff said they would provide copies of notices and continue engagement with EGLE and project applicants.
Ending: Wackerman, who said he will retire at month—s end after decades of work with the city but will remain available for the project, introduced Jamie Timmons Burton of ASTI as his replacement on the grant work going forward.
Provenance: topicintro (00:12:49): "...presentation. Item number 2025-0058, administrative update on the Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and and Energy EGLE grant number 2023-2540. Tom Wackerman, ASTI, presenter." topfinish (00:27:31): "...I'm happy to answer any questions."
