Gas wells at the Arbor Hills Landfill spiked to 177°F by early 2025, with methane levels plunging below 10%, according to an analysis published Sunday, Aug. 23, by The Conservancy Initiative, a Northville Township-based nonprofit that has led opposition to GFL Environmental's proposed 90-acre expansion of the Salem Township landfill.
The state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has approved GFL's requests to operate 16 wells above normal temperature limits, in some cases up to 180°F, according to the analysis. The federal standard is 145°F.
Between 2022 and 2024, GFL abandoned 21 gas wells that failed because of high temperatures and drilled 20 replacements, the analysis found. The overheating is concentrated on the landfill's north side, the same area where GFL wants to build its proposed expansion.
The data surfaced days after a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation published Thursday, Aug. 20, reviewed public records from more than 100 landfills in 20 states. That review identified 20 landfills, including Arbor Hills, that have reported or requested permission to operate gas wells at 170°F or higher.
History of heat problems
EGLE conducted an unannounced inspection at Arbor Hills in April 2019 and documented what it called an "Elevated Temperature Landfill" event, including a deep subsidence and a strong belief that oxygen intrusion had ignited a subsurface fire. A separate August 2022 EGLE Air Quality Division inspection noted ground temperatures up to 135°F and methane concentrations of 5,000 ppm at a hot well in an area of subsidence.
The Conservancy Initiative's analysis warns that elevated temperatures can destroy pollution-control liners, trigger slope failures, increase leachate sevenfold and release airborne carcinogens such as benzene.
Expansion timeline
As we reported Aug. 20, Northville Township residents packed the Washtenaw County Materials Management Planning Committee's Aug. 19 meeting to oppose the expansion. GFL's presenter did not attend that meeting.
"If they do have a new landfill, it's going to last like 30 years or more, and all of the environmental effects eventually, when it's done, they'll walk away, and we have to deal with all the environmental effects now and later," Leslie Evans, a Northville Township resident and leader of The Conservancy Initiative, told the committee on Aug. 19, according to WXYZ.
The Conservancy Initiative also argues the expansion is unnecessary, citing an EGLE capacity report showing Michigan has more than 23 years of remaining landfill capacity statewide.
GFL did not respond to WXYZ's request for comment as of Aug. 19. GFL is scheduled to present to the committee on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The committee plans to vote in December on whether the proposal is consistent with the county's materials management plan.
After that vote, county commissioners must approve the plan, and two-thirds of Washtenaw County municipalities must sign off before GFL can formally apply to EGLE for expansion.
